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| US and allies launch strikes on Syria chemical weapons sites | US and allies launch strikes on Syria chemical weapons sites |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| President Donald Trump says he has approved US military strikes against Syrian chemical weapons sites, in collaboration with the UK and France. | |
| The strikes are in response to an alleged chemical attack on the Syrian town of Douma last week. | The strikes are in response to an alleged chemical attack on the Syrian town of Douma last week. |
| "A combined operation with the armed forces of France and the United Kingdom is now underway," President Trump said in an address to the nation. | "A combined operation with the armed forces of France and the United Kingdom is now underway," President Trump said in an address to the nation. |
| Explosions were reported near the Syrian capital Damascus. | Explosions were reported near the Syrian capital Damascus. |
| UK Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed British involvement, saying there was "no practicable alternative to the use of force". | |
| But she also said the strikes were not about "regime change". | |
| UK strikes carried out by four Tornado jets hit a military site near the city of Homs, which is believed to have housed precursor materials for chemical weapons, the ministry of defence said. | |
| The strikes were ordered "on targets associated with the chemical weapons capabilities" of the Syrian government, Mr Trump said. | |
| The US president said the purpose was "to establish a strong deterrent against the production, spread and use of chemical weapons". | |
| "These are not the actions of a man, they are the crimes of a monster instead," he said of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. | |
| Syria has denied carrying out the attack and its ally, Russia, had warned that Western military strikes would risk starting a war. | |
| A US official told Reuters news agency that Tomahawk cruise missiles were being used against multiple locations in Syria. | |
| The agency also quoted a witness in Damascus as saying "at least six loud explosions" were heard in the capital. | |
| Syrian state television also confirmed strikes on Damascus. The country's air defences have also been deployed, reports say. | |
| British-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said strikes had hit the Syrian Scientific Research Facility in the capital, along with several military sites. |