Syria strikes - as it happened: Bashar al-Assad's chemical weapons capability 'set back for years' by bombing, Pentagon says
Theresa May warns of further strikes if regime uses poison again
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Your support makes all the difference.Joint air strikes by the US, UK and France have set back Syria’s chemical weapons capability “for years”, the US military said.
Cruise missiles were fired at three sites in response to what Theresa May called the “despicable and barbaric” attack in Douma last week that is believed to have killed up to 75 people.
Ms May said Bashar al-Assad could face even further strikes if chemical weapons are used again - and the US warned that they were "locked and loaded" if poison used again.
US President Donald Trump declared “mission accomplished” after more than 100 missiles were collectively launched in the early hours of the morning.
During telephone conversations on Saturday afternoon, Ms May, Mr Trump and Emmanuel Macron all agreed that the military strikes in Syria "had been a success".
Downing Street published a document setting out why it believes military action against the Syrian regime was legal after Jeremy Corbyn described the action as legally questionable.
The Russian embassy in the US said it had warned that such actions would "not be left without consequences", adding that insulting President Vladimir Putin was "unacceptable and inadmissible".
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Russia and Syria claimed most of the missiles, numbering about 110, were intercepted, while the Pentagon said Syrian defences had “no effect” on the operation.
Mr Assad, backed also by Iran, said on Saturday the bombings would increase his country’s resolve to “fight and crush terrorism”.
Ms May said she had authorised British forces to conduct precision strikes against Syria to help degrade its chemical weapons capability.
“This is not about intervening in a civil war. It is not about regime change,” Ms May said in a statement. “It is about a limited and targeted strike that does not further escalate tensions in the region and that does everything possible to prevent civilian casualties.”
RAF Tornado jets bombed a chemical weapons facility 15 miles outside Homs, the Ministry of Defence said.
Russia warned of “consequences” for the US-led military strikes, saying the use of missiles on suspected chemical weapons assets were an insult to Vladimir Putin.
“A pre-designed scenario is being implemented,” Russian ambassador Anatoly Antonov said in a statement. “Again, we are being threatened. We warned that such actions will not be left without consequences.”
Earlier, Russia’s military claimed to have evidence that Britain had “direct involvement” in staging the suspected chemical attack in Syria, a charge quickly condemned as “grotesque” by the UK.
Humanitarian volunteers were “seriously pressured” by the UK to speed up plans for a “provocation” in eastern Ghouta, Moscow’s defence ministry suggested.
Britain’s ambassador to the UN condemned the “blatant lie” as “the worst piece of fake news we’ve yet seen from the Russian propaganda machine”.
Later, a spokesman for the UK Foreign Office said: “These accusations from Moscow are just the latest in a number of ludicrous allegations from Russia, who have also said that no attack ever happened.
“This simply shows their desperation to pin the blame on anyone but their client: the [President Bashar] Assad regime
It comes as Russia and the United States traded fresh blows during the latest round of talks at the UN Security Council and amid warnings that the world is at risk of “full-blown military escalation”.
The State Department said the United States has proof at “a very high level of confidence” that the Syrian government of Mr Assad carried out the attack but is still working to identify the mix of chemicals used.
“Syria is responsible. We are all in agreement,” department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters.
Additional reporting by agencies
The sun is up in Damascus, so details of what has been hit will be starting to come out.
Congressional leaders are supporting President Donald Trump's decision to launch air strikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad in retaliation for an apparent chemical attack against civilians — although there are some reservations.
House Speaker Paul Ryan is praising Trump's “decisive action in coordination with our allies,” adding, “We are united in our resolve.”
Senate Armed Service Committee Chairman John McCain says air strikes “alone will not achieve US objectives in the Middle East.”
Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer is calling the air strikes “appropriate,” but says “the administration has to be careful about not getting us into a greater and more involved war in Syria.”
And House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says, “One night of air strikes is not a substitute for a clear, comprehensive Syria strategy.”
The office of the French presidency has released video of some of their jets taking off and linking to President Macron's statement.
Syria has been attacked just as it had a chance for peace, Russia's foreign ministry said on Saturday, hours after US, British and French forces pounded Damascus with air strikes in response to a suspected poison gas attack.
"First the 'Arab spring' tested the Syrian people, then Islamic State, now smart American rockets. The capital of a sovereign government, trying for years to survive under terrorist aggression, has been attacked," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Facebook.
"You have to be quite abnormal to attack Syria's capital just at the moment when it had a chance for a peaceful future," she wrote.
Amnesty International USA has issued the following statement, from Raed Jarrar, the human rights organisation's advocacy director for Middle East North Africa:
“The people of Syria have already endured six years of devastating attacks, including chemical attacks, many of which amount to war crimes. All precautions must be taken to minimise harm to civilians in any military action. People already living in fear of losing their lives in unlawful attacks must not be further punished for the alleged violations of the Syrian government.
“Millions have fled Syria to escape violence and persecution. The Trump administration must not turn its back on the suffering of men, women, and children by continuing to ban refugees from entering the United States. It is time for the U.S. to reopen our doors to people trying to escape from the violence in Syria.”
The Syrian government and its allies are said to have absorbed a US-led attack and the targeted sites were evacuated days ago thanks to a warning from Russia, according to a senior official in a regional alliance that backs Damascus.
"We have absorbed the strike", the official told Reuters.
Worth remembering that it is the interest of Assad's government to play down the strikes, just as it is in the interests of the US to talk them up, possibly more so.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has called the US air strikes “robust” and “clearly well-considered”.
“Tonight, the administration notified me of the president’s decision to use military action to deter Bashar al-Assad and respond to the Syrian regime’s use of chemical weapons against its own people. I support both the action and objective,” he said.
Syrian state media is really pumping out the claims that the air strikes have not had the desired effect.
They suggest the missiles aimed at the Homs were "diverted" and that three civilians were injured.
Until we get a clearer picture of what happened, statements from all sides should be read with caution.
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