US, UK, France launch air strikes on Syria in response to chemical weapons attack
Updated
The US, UK and France have launched "precision strikes" on targets linked to chemical weapons in Syria in response to the alleged poison gas attack which killed dozens of people in the Syrian town of Douma.
In a televised address to the nation, US President Donald Trump said the three nations had "marshalled their righteous power against barbarism and brutality".
Reuters reported several explosions had been heard in the Syrian capital of Damascus.
Smoke was seen rising from the area.
Syrian state TV said the US, UK and France had launched attacks and said anti-aircraft units had responded.
Mr Trump said the strikes were in response to the "evil and the despicable" chemical attack 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," he said, referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
British Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed the UK had authorised armed forces to conduct co-ordinated and targeted strikes to degrade the Syrian regime's chemical weapons capability and deter their use.
"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.
"This is not about intervening in a civil war. It is not about a regime change.
"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."
French President Emmanuel Macron said the military operation with US and Britain were targeting a "clandestine chemical arsenal".
Mr Macron said France's "red line has been crossed" after the suspected chemical attack last week in the Syrian town of Douma.
He said there was "no doubt" that the Syrian Government was responsible.
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."
More to come.
Topics: world-politics, unrest-conflict-and-war, donald-trump, russian-federation, united-kingdom, syrian-arab-republic
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