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Donald Trump launches US missile strike against Syria after chemical attack – live | |
(35 minutes later) | |
6.19am BST | |
06:19 | |
Australia 'strongly supports' US strike | |
Gareth Hutchens | |
Australia’s prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has said he “strongly supports” the US military strike on Syria’s al-Shayrat airfield, calling it a calibrated, proportionate and targeted response to the Syrian regime’s “shocking war crime”. | |
He said Australia was in close discussions with its allies about the next steps, but said the airstrike had sent an important signal that the world would not tolerate the use of chemical weapons. | |
In a specially-convened press conference in Sydney on Friday, Turnbull said: | |
It sends a strong message to the Assad regime. | |
The retribution has been proportionate and it has been swift. We support the United States in that swift action. | |
Turnbull said it was important to note that the international community was not at war with the Assad regime, and the US had made it clear it was not seeking to overthrow Bashar al-Assad. | |
However, he said events of this week raised “very real questions” over whether Assad could remain as leader of Syria: | |
This chemical attack was a horrific crime, shocking, even in the context of that brutal war. | |
Turnbull said the US had not asked for more military support, but he left open the possibility of providing it in the future: | |
There is no question that this shocking conflict in Syria is crying out itself for a resolution and we certainly will continue to work with our allies and our partners to see a resolution to this shocking war. | |
6.13am BST | |
06:13 | |
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an organisation that monitors the war, says al-Shayrat airbase has been almost completely destroyed. | |
There are reports that some troops have been killed, but this is as yet unconfirmed. | |
6.08am BST | |
06:08 | |
Elle Hunt | |
A mainstay of US warfare for more than 20 years, the Tomahawk cruise missile had been considered the most likely weapon for any strike by the Trump administration against the Syrian military. And so it proved. | |
The US launched its surprise attack on an inland airbase near Homs early on Thursday morning, with 59 of the missiles deployed from two naval destroyers. USS Ross and USS Porter were in the eastern Mediterranean sea off Syria’s western coast. | |
More than 6.25m long (20ft) and weighing 1,590kg (3,500lb), the Tomahawk land-attack missile is billed by the US navy as “an all-weather, long range, subsonic cruise missile” able to be launched from either ships or submarines. | |
They commonly carry warheads of up to 454kg (1,000lb), and are designed to fly at low altitudes towards even heavily defended land targets with extreme accuracy. | |
Their chief advantage in warfare is that they are unmanned, guided by GPS to targets more than 1,600km (1,000 miles) away at high subsonic speeds of 885km/h (550mph). | |
5.56am BST | |
05:56 | |
Russia is waking up to news of the strike – though we know military channels were used to alert Moscow before the missiles were launched – and reaction so far has been hostile. | |
State news agency RIA quoted Viktor Ozerov, head of the defence and security committee at the Russian upper house of parliament, saying the US strikes could undermine the fight against terrorism. | |
Ozerov said Russia would call for an urgent meeting of the UN security council: | |
This [the attack] could be viewed as an act of aggression of the US against a UN nation. | |
5.46am BST | |
05:46 | |
Martin Chulov | |
The Guardian’s Middle East correspondent reports from Beirut: | |
The al-Shayrat air base has been central to the Syrian war and to persistent claims of chemical weapons use. It is one of Bashar al-Assad’s main military institutions and has housed allies including Russian troops, Hezbollah and Iraqi militias throughout the war. | |
Sources in Lebanon who are allied to the regime said senior officers evacuated the base before the airstrikes happened and some commanders were attempting to move their families to the Lebanese capital. | |
The US strike had been increasingly anticipated from late on Thursday until early Friday morning, when 59 precision guided missiles were launched from two US destroyers in the Mediterranean. | |
Russia has retained a presence at al-Shayrat, although its most significant force is located at a purpose-built base close to Latakia. | |
There was no immediate response from Hezbollah, whose forces have been central to turning the tide of the war in Assad’s favour over the past two years, most recently in Hama, where they have helped rebuff an assault near Syria’s fourth city led by jihadists and opposition groups. | |
Russia has established a comprehensive ground-radar bubble over much of northern Syria, which would have been capable of detecting incoming threats, such as the pre-dawn barrage of missiles. | |
Before the war, al-Shayrat was one of Assad’s strategic bases. Located near where large stores of sarin were kept in bunkers, it has maintained that role even as most of the stockpiles were surrendered in late 2013. Since then, there have been several claims of sarin use and extensive claims that chlorine has been strapped to war planes and helicopters and dropped on opposition fighters and communities. | |
Updated | |
at 5.46am BST | |
5.35am BST | 5.35am BST |
05:35 | 05:35 |
Homs governor: deaths reported at airbase | Homs governor: deaths reported at airbase |
Associated Press cites Talal Barazi, governor of Homs province, where al-Shayrat airbase is located, saying there have been deaths as a result of the strikes. | Associated Press cites Talal Barazi, governor of Homs province, where al-Shayrat airbase is located, saying there have been deaths as a result of the strikes. |
At the moment, there are no further details. | At the moment, there are no further details. |
5.29am BST | 5.29am BST |
05:29 | 05:29 |
Julian Borger | Julian Borger |
Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said the Russians were informed in “multiple conversations” on Thursday, through the “deconfliction channel” – a communications channel to the Russian base at Latakia used to avoid collisions or exchanges of fire between US and allied planes and Russian planes. | Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said the Russians were informed in “multiple conversations” on Thursday, through the “deconfliction channel” – a communications channel to the Russian base at Latakia used to avoid collisions or exchanges of fire between US and allied planes and Russian planes. |
“There are Russians at the base and we took extraordinary precautions to not target the area where the Russians are,” he said. | “There are Russians at the base and we took extraordinary precautions to not target the area where the Russians are,” he said. |
5.20am BST | 5.20am BST |
05:20 | 05:20 |
The US defense department has released images of its two guided-missile destroyers, USS Porter and USS Ross, stationed in the Mediterranean, unleashing the missile strike on Syria. | The US defense department has released images of its two guided-missile destroyers, USS Porter and USS Ross, stationed in the Mediterranean, unleashing the missile strike on Syria. |
Updated | Updated |
at 5.27am BST | at 5.27am BST |
5.02am BST | 5.02am BST |
05:02 | 05:02 |
AP reports that the Syrian Coalition, an opposition group, has welcomed the US attack, saying it puts an end to an age of “impunity” and should be just the beginning. | AP reports that the Syrian Coalition, an opposition group, has welcomed the US attack, saying it puts an end to an age of “impunity” and should be just the beginning. |
Major Jamil al-Saleh, a US-backed rebel commander whose Hama district was struck by a suspected chemical weapons attack, said he hoped the US attack on a government air base would be a “turning point” in the six-year war. | Major Jamil al-Saleh, a US-backed rebel commander whose Hama district was struck by a suspected chemical weapons attack, said he hoped the US attack on a government air base would be a “turning point” in the six-year war. |
4.53am BST | 4.53am BST |
04:53 | 04:53 |
Talal Barazi, governor of Syria’s Homs province, where al-Shayrat airbase is located, has told state TV that such strikes serve the purpose of terrorists, Reuters reports: | Talal Barazi, governor of Syria’s Homs province, where al-Shayrat airbase is located, has told state TV that such strikes serve the purpose of terrorists, Reuters reports: |
Syrian leadership and Syrian policy will not change. This targeting was not the first and I don’t believe it will be the last … | Syrian leadership and Syrian policy will not change. This targeting was not the first and I don’t believe it will be the last … |
The armed terrorist groups and Daesh [Isis] failed to target the Syrian Arab Army and Russian military positions. | The armed terrorist groups and Daesh [Isis] failed to target the Syrian Arab Army and Russian military positions. |
The US strikes “targeted military positions in Syria and in Homs specifically” in order to “serve the goals of terrorism in Syria and the goals of Israel in the long run”, Barazi said. (The Syrian government describes all armed groups opposed to it as terrorists.) | The US strikes “targeted military positions in Syria and in Homs specifically” in order to “serve the goals of terrorism in Syria and the goals of Israel in the long run”, Barazi said. (The Syrian government describes all armed groups opposed to it as terrorists.) |
Barazi said there are not thought to be “big human casualties” at the airbase, though there is material damage as a result of the strikes. He said firefighting and rescue operations had been continuing for more than two hours. | Barazi said there are not thought to be “big human casualties” at the airbase, though there is material damage as a result of the strikes. He said firefighting and rescue operations had been continuing for more than two hours. |
And he insisted that the airbase – which the US said was the site from which the sarin nerve gas attack on Khan Sheikhun was launched – was used to support Syrian regime operations against Isis. | And he insisted that the airbase – which the US said was the site from which the sarin nerve gas attack on Khan Sheikhun was launched – was used to support Syrian regime operations against Isis. |
4.43am BST | 4.43am BST |
04:43 | 04:43 |
Tillerson: 'no change' in US policy on Syria | Tillerson: 'no change' in US policy on Syria |
Secretary of state Rex Tillerson has insisted that the missile strikes – despite the sharp shift they represent from the previous stance taken by the Trump administration – are not in fact a change in US policy towards Syria: | Secretary of state Rex Tillerson has insisted that the missile strikes – despite the sharp shift they represent from the previous stance taken by the Trump administration – are not in fact a change in US policy towards Syria: |
This clearly indicates the president is willing to take decisive action when called for. | This clearly indicates the president is willing to take decisive action when called for. |
I would not in any way attempt to extrapolate that to a change in our policy or posture relative to our military activities in Syria today. There has been no change in that status. | I would not in any way attempt to extrapolate that to a change in our policy or posture relative to our military activities in Syria today. There has been no change in that status. |
I think it does demonstrate that President Trump is willing to act when governments and actors cross the line and cross the line on violating commitments they’ve made and cross the line in the most heinous of ways. | I think it does demonstrate that President Trump is willing to act when governments and actors cross the line and cross the line on violating commitments they’ve made and cross the line in the most heinous of ways. |
4.29am BST | 4.29am BST |
04:29 | 04:29 |
What we know so far | What we know so far |
Claire Phipps | Claire Phipps |
The US has launched a missile strike against Syria, targeting al-Shayrat airbase close to Homs, from where it said this week’s sarin nerve gas attack on Khan Sheikhun was launched. | The US has launched a missile strike against Syria, targeting al-Shayrat airbase close to Homs, from where it said this week’s sarin nerve gas attack on Khan Sheikhun was launched. |
The Pentagon said 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched from warships USS Ross and Porter in the eastern Mediterranean on Thursday at 8.45ET (Friday 3.45am Syria). | The Pentagon said 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched from warships USS Ross and Porter in the eastern Mediterranean on Thursday at 8.45ET (Friday 3.45am Syria). |
Donald Trump said the strike was a direct response to the chemical weapons attack that killed more than 70 people: | Donald Trump said the strike was a direct response to the chemical weapons attack that killed more than 70 people: |
Tonight I ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched. | Tonight I ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched. |
It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons. | It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons. |
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. | 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. |
Years of previous attempts at changing Assad’s behaviour have all failed and failed very dramatically. | Years of previous attempts at changing Assad’s behaviour have all failed and failed very dramatically. |
US secretary of state Rex Tillerson said Russia bore responsibility for its handling of the 2013 deal that was supposed to remove Assad’s chemical weapons stockpile: | US secretary of state Rex Tillerson said Russia bore responsibility for its handling of the 2013 deal that was supposed to remove Assad’s chemical weapons stockpile: |
They would act as the guarantor that these weapons would no longer be present in Syria. Clearly Russia has failed in its responsibility to deliver on that commitment from 2013. | They would act as the guarantor that these weapons would no longer be present in Syria. Clearly Russia has failed in its responsibility to deliver on that commitment from 2013. |
Either Russia has been complicit or Russia has been simply incompetent in its ability to deliver on its end of that agreement. | Either Russia has been complicit or Russia has been simply incompetent in its ability to deliver on its end of that agreement. |
Tillerson said there had been “no discussions” with Moscow before or since the strike. | Tillerson said there had been “no discussions” with Moscow before or since the strike. |
But the Pentagon confirmed that Russia – a key Assad ally – had been informed in advance of the strike through military channels: | But the Pentagon confirmed that Russia – a key Assad ally – had been informed in advance of the strike through military channels: |
Russian forces were notified in advance of the strike using the established deconfliction line. | Russian forces were notified in advance of the strike using the established deconfliction line. |
The Pentagon also said it believes the strike has “severely damaged or destroyed Syrian aircraft and support infrastructure”. | The Pentagon also said it believes the strike has “severely damaged or destroyed Syrian aircraft and support infrastructure”. |
Read our latest news story here: | Read our latest news story here: |
Updated | Updated |
at 4.31am BST | at 4.31am BST |
4.21am BST | 4.21am BST |
04:21 | 04:21 |
Tillerson contradicts Pentagon over Russia contact | Tillerson contradicts Pentagon over Russia contact |
Contradicting information from the Pentagon – which said “Russian forces were notified in advance of the strike using the established deconfliction line” – secretary of state Rex Tillerson told reporters that Russia had not been alerted: | Contradicting information from the Pentagon – which said “Russian forces were notified in advance of the strike using the established deconfliction line” – secretary of state Rex Tillerson told reporters that Russia had not been alerted: |
There were no discussions or prior contacts, nor had there been any since the attack with Moscow. | There were no discussions or prior contacts, nor had there been any since the attack with Moscow. |
The contradiction could be explained if Tillerson is referring to political channels, and the Pentagon military ones. | The contradiction could be explained if Tillerson is referring to political channels, and the Pentagon military ones. |
Updated | Updated |
at 4.23am BST | at 4.23am BST |
4.16am BST | 4.16am BST |
04:16 | 04:16 |
Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also lent his backing to the strike: | Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also lent his backing to the strike: |
Very rare 6am (Jerusalem time) statement from Netanyahu just now: "Israel fully supports President Trump's decision" | Very rare 6am (Jerusalem time) statement from Netanyahu just now: "Israel fully supports President Trump's decision" |