The US has launched 50 to 60 Tomahawk cruise missiles against the Syrian military base near Homs in its first direct American attack on the Syrian government
President Donald Trump ordered the strikes in response to the chemical attack in Idlib, which he blamed on Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Britain has backed Donald Trump’s missile assault while Russia has condemned American ‘aggression’ saying it will damage its relations with the US.
BYPASS THE CENSORS
Sign up to get unfiltered news delivered straight to your inbox.
You can unsubscribe any time. By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use
The surprise barrage of Tomahawk missiles were launched from US ships in the Mediterranean and struck the Shayrat air base in central Syria in the early hours of Friday.
RT reports:
US President Donald Trump spoke from his Mar-a-Lago resort following the airstrikes, accusing Assad of using nerve gas that killed civilians in Idlib.
Calling it a “targeted military strike,” Trump said the Homs airfield was where the chemical gas attack earlier this week originated from.
Trump described the attack as defending a “vital national security interest” and called upon “civilized nations” to help end the “slaughter and bloodshed in Syria.”
“There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under the chemical weapons convention, and ignored the urging of the UN security council,” Trump said. “Years of previous attempts at changing Assad’s behaviour have all failed and failed very dramatically.”
Fifty-nine US Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles were launched from the US warships USS Porter and USS Ross from the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said in a statement. Davis added that “extraordinary measures” were taken “to avoid civilian casualties,” and that “every precaution was taken” to minimize the “risk to personnel at the airfield.”
The Pentagon has released photos of Tomahawk missiles, showing the moment they were being launched from the US warships in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea to Syria.
Pentagon releases first pictures of Tomahawk cruise missiles launching from US Navy warships on strike in #Syria pic.twitter.com/5S04CJyc6E
— Garret Pustay (@garretpustay) April 7, 2017
Niamh Harris