The US, UK and France coordinated to launch strikes against targets within Syria in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
US officials at a Pentagon briefing Friday described the strike as a joint operation consisting of British, American and French forces. US President Donald Trump said during a separate announcement from the White House:
“Today, the nations of Britain, France, and the United States of America have marshaled their righteous power against barbarism and brutality.”
From aljazeera.com:
Key Quotes From Trump’s Address On Syria:
- “A combined operation with the armed forces of France and the United Kingdom is now under way. We thank them both.”
- “Last Saturday, the Assad regime again deployed chemical weapons to slaughter innocent civilians – this time in the town of Douma, near the Syrian capital of Damascus. This massacre was a significant escalation in a pattern of chemical weapons use by that very terrible regime.”
- “The evil and the despicable attack left mother and fathers, infants and children thrashing in pain and gasping for air. These are not the actions of a man. They are crimes of a monster instead.”
- “The purpose of our actions tonight is to establish a strong deterrent against the production, spread and use of chemical weapons.”
- “To Iran and to Russia, I ask: what kind of nation wants to be associated with the mass murder of innocent men, women and children?”
- “America does not seek an indefinite presence in Syria under no circumstances.”
- “The United States will be a partner and a friend, but the fate of the region lies in the hands of its own people.”
Five Facts About The US-led Strikes In Syria
- According to US President Donald Trump, “the purpose of our actions tonight is to establish a strong deterrent against the production, spread and use of chemical weapons”.
- The US and its allies launched more than 100 strikes on Syria in a “one-time shot”, officials at the Pentagon said. According to a Syrian government official, around 30 missiles were fired in the attack, and a third of them were shot down.
- The US used Tomahawk cruise missiles in its strikes in Syria, which were fired at multiple targets in the country, a US official said.
- Joseph Dunford, Washington’s top general, said the “precision strikes” hit three targets: A scientific research centre near Damascus that is allegedly connected to the production of the chemical weapons; a chemical weapons storage facility near Homs; a command post near the capital.
- Russia’s ambassador to the US warned that there would be consequences for the strikes, adding that it was not acceptable to insult Russia’s president.
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