Syria airstrikes UPDATES | US, France, Britain target military bases; Syrian government says 110 missiles fired

The United States, Britain and France carried out a wave of punitive strikes against Bashar al-Assad's Syrian regime on Saturday in response to alleged chemical weapons attacks that President Donald Trump branded the "crimes of a monster."

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Western strikes hit bases, chemical research centres around Syria's Damascus

All you need to know about the seven years of conflict in Syria

Here are the latest updates:

12.10 am:

A Syrian military statement says the U.S., Britain and France fired 110 missiles during a joint attack on targets in Damascus and outside.

Brig. Gen. Ali Mayhoub, who read the statement on Syrian TV, said "our air defenses effectively shot down most of them." He says one of the missiles hit the Scientific Research Center in Barzeh near Damascus, damaging a building. In Homs, one of the missiles was derailed injuring three people, he said.

Mayhoub says the attacks "will not deter" the Syrian military from its ongoing war to eradicate "armed terrorists" from Syrian territory.

Syria's Foreign Ministry earlier said the attack coincides with the arrival of a fact-finding mission from the international chemical weapons watchdog to inspect the site of the alleged attack in the town of Douma, and "aims to hinder its work."

The OPCW had said that its experts would be visiting Douma on Saturday.

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11.40 am:

Turkey on Saturday welcomed Western strikes targeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime as an "appropriate reaction" in retaliation for a suspected chemical attack that left dozens dead.

"We welcome this operation that articulates the conscience of all humanity in the face of the Douma attack which has a strong suspicion of being carried out by the regime," the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.

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11.30 am:

France wants to start working "right now" on resuming the political process aimed at ending the conflict in Syria, the French foreign minister said Saturday, following air strikes by Western powers against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

"A plan for ending the crisis must be found, with a political solution. We are ready to start working right now with all countries who want to participate," Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told a press conference.

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11.05 am:

France's defense minister says its joint military operation with the U.S. and Britain against Syria targeted three sites and that Russia was informed ahead of time.

Defense Minister Florence Parly told reporters Saturday that the French military sent fighter jets from multiple bases in France and used missile-equipped frigates in the Mediterranean in the operation. Rafale fighter jets could be seen on a video posted overnight by the French presidential palace on Twitter.

She said strikes targeted the "main research center" for the Syrian chemical weapons program and "two important production sites."

She added that "with our allies, we ensured that the Russians were warned ahead of time." Syria's ally Russia has denounced the western military action.

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10.40 am:

Hundreds of Syrians are demonstrating in a landmark square of the Syrian capital, waving victory signs and honking their car horns in a show of defiance.

READ | Syria condemns 'brutal, barbaric aggression' by Western powers

The demonstrations broke out early Saturday following a wave of U.S., British and French military strikes to punish President Bashar Assad for suspected chemical attack against civilians. The Syrian government has denied the accusations.

In Damascus, the president's seat of power, hundreds of residents gathered in Omayyad Square, many waving Syrian, Russian and Iranian flags. Some clapped their hands and danced, others drove in convoys, honking their horns.

"We are your men, Bashar," they shouted.

State TV broadcast live from the square where a large crowd of civilians mixed with men in uniforms, including an actor, lawmakers and other figures.

"Good morning steadfastness," one broadcaster said.

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10.30 am:

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday called for restraint and for countries to avoid any acts that could escalate the situation in Syria after the United States, France and Britain carried out strikes.

Guterres delayed a planned trip to Saudi Arabia to deal with the aftermath of the military action.

"I urge all member states to show restraint in these dangerous circumstances and to avoid any acts that could escalate the situation and worsen the suffering of the Syrian people," Guterres said in a statement.

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9.50 am:

Syrian state-run TV says three civilians have been wounded in the U.S.-led missile attack on a military base in Homs.

It says the attack was aborted by derailing the incoming missile but adds nonetheless that three people were wounded.

It says another attack with "a number of missiles" targeting a scientific research center destroyed a building and caused other material damage but no human losses. The network says the building in the research center included an educational center and labs.

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9.25 am:

The spokeswoman for Russia's Foreign Ministry is denouncing the United States for launching airstrikes on Syria. She says the attacks hit a long-troubled country "that for many years has been trying to survive terrorist aggression."

In a statement Saturday on Facebook, Maria Zakharova is also taking Western media reports to task.

Zakharova says: "The White House stated that its assuredness of the chemical attack from Damascus was based on 'mass media, reports of symptoms, video, photos as well as credible information.' After this statement the American and other Western mass media should understand their responsibility in what is happening."

Sakharova is comparing the situation to the start of the Iraq War in 2003 based on claims Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction.

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8.20 am:

Syrian TV is reporting that the attack on Syria targeted a scientific research center in Barzeh, near Damascus.

The report says Syria's air defenses confronted the missiles near Homs, and says the airstrikes also targeted an army depot there.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced the airstrikes in retaliation for Syrian President Bashar Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons.

Syrian air defenses responded to the joint strikes by the United States, France and Britain

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8.05 am:

A highly placed Russian politician is likening President Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler after the launch of airstrikes against Syria, and says he regards the action as a move against Russia.

Alexander Sherin, deputy head of the State Duma's defense committee, says Trump "can be called Adolf Hitler No. 2 of our time — because, you see, he even chose the time that Hitler attacked the Soviet Union."

That's according to state news agency RIA-Novosti. The Nazi forces' opening attack against the USSR in 1941 was launched around 4 a.m.

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7.50 am:

The British defense ministry says "initial indications" show that the airstrikes against Syria produced a "successful attack" on a Syrian military facility.

The U.K., U.S. and France launched the attacks near Damascus early Saturday. The U.K. ministry says in a statement that while the effectiveness of the strike is still being analyzed, "initial indications are that the precision of the Storm Shadow weapons and meticulous target planning have resulted in a successful attack."

British Prime Minister Theresa May is describing the attack as neither "about intervening in a civil war" nor "about regime change," but a limited and targeted strike that "does not further escalate tensions in the region" and does everything possible to prevent civilian casualties.

May says, "We would have preferred an alternative path. But on this occasion there is none.

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7.30am:

Defense Secretary James Mattis says the U.S. and its allies have taken "decisive action" against Syrian chemical weapons infrastructure.

Mattis briefed reporters at the Pentagon Friday an hour after President Donald Trump announced the strike.

Mattis says the United States, along with France and the United Kingdom, struck because Syrian President Bashar Assad "did not get the message" when the U.S. launched airstrikes after a chemical attack in 2017.

The defense secretary says Friday's strikes have "sent a clear message" to Assad and his "murderous lieutenants."

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7.20am:

Explosions are being heard to the east, west and south of Damascus as the U.S., U.K. and France conduct airstrikes in retaliation for an alleged chemical attack by the Syrian government on its own people.

Witnesses saw blasts surrounding much of the Syrian capital and a huge fire could be seen from a distance to the east. An AP reporter in Damascus says the attacks turned the sky orange. Syrian television reported that a scientific research center had been hit.

Syrian media reported that Syrian defenses hit 13 rockets south of Damascus. After the attack ceased and the early morning skies went dark once more, vehicles with loudspeakers roamed the streets of Damascus blaring nationalist songs.

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7.10am:

French President Emmanuel Macron says his nation, the United States and Britain have launched a military operation against the Syrian government's "clandestine chemical arsenal."

Macron says in a statement Saturday that France's "red line has been crossed" after a suspected chemical attack last week in the Syrian town of Douma.

He says there is "no doubt" that the Syrian government is responsible. President Bashar Assad's government denies responsibility.

Macron says the operation is limited to Syria's abilities to produce chemical weapons. He is not giving details about what equipment is involved in the operation or what sites it is targeting.

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6.50am:

Syria's capital has been rocked by loud explosions that lit up the sky with heavy smoke as U.S. President Donald Trump announced airstrikes in retaliation for the country's alleged use of chemical weapons.

Associated Press reporters in Damascus saw smoke rising from east Damascus early Saturday morning local time. Syrian state TV says the attack has begun on the capital, though it wasn't immediately clear what was targeted.

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6.30am:

US President Donald Trump says the United States has "launched precision strikes" on targets associated with Syrian chemical weapons program.

WATCH | Trump orders strikes against Syria over chemical weapons attack

Trump spoke from the White House Friday night. He says a "combined operation" with France and the United Kingdom is underway.

Trump says that last Saturday, Syrian President Bashar Assad deployed chemical weapons in what was a "significant escalation in a pattern of chemical weapons use by that very terrible regime."

(With inputs from AP and AFP)