Syria: US, British and French forces launch air strikes in response to chemical weapons attack
Updated
US, British and French forces have pounded chemical weapons sites in Syria with air strikes in response to an alleged poison gas attack that killed dozens in the rebel-held town of Douma last week.
Key points:
- US, UK and France hit three chemical weapons sites in Syria
- US Defence Secretary says strikes were a "one-time shot"
- Strikes biggest intervention yet by Western powers against Assad regime
In a televised address to the nation, US President Donald Trump said the three nations had "marshalled their righteous power against barbarism and brutality".
The strikes were the biggest intervention by Western powers against President Bashar al-Assad in the country's seven-year-old civil war, which has pitted the US and its allies against Russia.
The Pentagon said the strikes targeted a research centre in greater Damascus and a chemical weapons storage facility and a command post west of Homs.
Russia's Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said in a statement that Russia had warned that "such actions will not be left without consequences".
US Defence Secretary James Mattis said the strikes were a "one-time shot" to send a clear message to Assad and his "murderous lieutenants".
"Clearly the Assad regime did not get the message last year," Mr Mattis said.
"We did everything we could in our intelligence assessment and our planning to minimise to the maximum degree … any chance of civilian casualties."
He said the US did not co-ordinate with Russia on the strike nor did it pre-notify the Russians.
"We specifically identified these targets to mitigate the risk of Russian forces being involved," Mr Mattis said.
Mr Trump said the strikes were in response to the "evil and the despicable" chemical attack on April 7 which "left mothers 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," Mr Trump said, referring to Mr Assad.
British Prime Minister Theresa May said the strikes were not about intervening in a civil war nor were they about a regime change.
"We cannot allow the use of chemical weapons to become normalised within Syria, on the streets of the UK or anywhere else in our world," Ms May said, referencing the recent nerve gas attack on a Russian double agent in England.
"It is a limited and targeted strike that does not further escalate tensions in the region and that does everything possible to prevent civilian casualties," she said.
French President Emmanuel Macron said "red line has been crossed".
"We cannot tolerate the trivialisation of the use of chemical weapons, which is an immediate danger for the Syrian people and for our collective security," Mr Macron said.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Australia supported the strikes, which demonstrated a "calibrated, proportionate and targeted response".
"The use of chemical weapons by anyone, anywhere, under any circumstances is illegal and utterly reprehensible," Mr Turnbull said.
"The Assad regime must not be allowed to commit such crimes with impunity."
Syrian state TV said Syrian air defences shot down 13 missiles on Saturday morning.
Several explosions were heard in the capital of Damascus.
The UK's Defence Ministry said four Royal Air Force Tornado jets fired Storm Shadow missiles at a former missile base near the city of Homs.
In a statement, the ministry said it believed the base was where the Assad regime was keeping "chemical weapon precursors" stockpiled in breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
It said the targeted base was located "some distance" from "any known concentrations" of civilians.
Mr Trump said the US was not seeking an "indefinite presence" in Syria.
He said the US would be a "partner and a friend" to the Middle East but the fate of the region lay in the hands of its own people.
"As other nations step up their contributions, we look forward to the day when we can bring our warriors home," he said.
"No amount of American blood or treasure can produce lasting peace and security in the Middle East.
"We will try to make it better, but it is a troubled place."
ABC/wires
Topics: world-politics, unrest-conflict-and-war, donald-trump, russian-federation, united-kingdom, syrian-arab-republic
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