The United States, UK and France launch military strikes on Syria

09:38   14 April, 2018

STEPANAKERT, APRIL 14, ARTSAKHPRESS:In a televised address from the White House, Trump said "A short time ago, I ordered the United States Armed Forces to launch precision strikes on targets associated with the chemical weapons capabilities of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad."

"These are not the actions of a man. They are crimes of a monster instead," Mr Trump said referring to Assad and his role in the chemical weapons attacks.

As he spoke, at least six loud explosions were heard in Damascus on Saturday and smoke was seen rising over the Syrian capital.

Syrian state TV said the army's air defences shot down 13 missiles fired in a U.S.-led attack in the Kiswah area south of Damascus, the capital.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Marine General Joseph Dunford said three main chemical weapons facilities were targeted at 9 p.m. EST (1 a.m. GMT) by missiles from both the sea and aircraft, which triggered Syrian air defenses; a scientific research centre in Damascus, a chemical weapons storage facility west of Homs and a chemical weapons equipment storage and an important command post, also near Homs.

The Pentagon could not confirm how many missiles hit their targets but said no other attacks were planned.

They acknowledged that the strike was designed to degrade Syria's chemical weapons capability without killing civilians or the many foreign fighters in Syria's multi-sided civil war, particularly those from Russia.



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