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Syria latest: Trump orders air strikes against Assad regime – live updates
Syria latest: Trump orders air strikes against Assad regime – live updates
(35 minutes later)
#breaking #Damascus , scientific research facility accused of being a Chemical facility pic.twitter.com/emPdWfSe2y
Here is the full text of Donald Trump’s earlier announcement of strikes against the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons capability.
Further explosions are being heard in Damascus. CNN is quoting a senior administration official saying “this isn’t over” and that tonight is just the first wave of a “multi-wave” attack.
In it, he says the attack a week ago on Douma “was a significant escalation in a pattern of chemical weapons use by that very terrible regime”.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says several military bases have also been hit. It says the Republican Guard headquarters and the army’s 4th division were targeted.
He adds: “The purpose of our actions tonight is to establish a strong deterrent against the production, spread, and use of chemical weapons.”
Some more detail on the situation in Damascus. A Reuters witness has said at least six loud explosions were heard in the city and smoke was seen rising. Syrian state TV has said the army’s air defences were confronting an attack by the United States, France and Britain.
“I also have a message tonight for the two governments most responsible for supporting, equipping, and financing the criminal Assad regime.
A second witness said the Barzah district of Damascus had been hit in the strikes. Barzah is the location of a major Syrian scientific research centre.
“To Iran, and to Russia, I ask: What kind of a nation wants to be associated with the mass murder of innocent men, women, and children?”
Worth noting that staff from the UN’s Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons were due to visit Damascus on Saturday to determine whether chemical weapons were used in Douma on 7 April.
Mattis is still answering detailed questions. He says he is confident a chemical weapon was used, possibly sarin.
Trump’s decision comes on a day of rapid developments:
I haven’t read France’s or Britain’s “Constitution,” but I’ve read ours and no where in it is Presidential authority to strike Syria.
The Russian defence minister, Maj Gen Igor Konashenkov, claimed to have direct evidence that Britain had orchestrated the alleged chemical attack at Douma in Syria. The UK, he said, was “directly involved in the provocation”.
Our wrap on the UK involvement in the Syrian strikes is up now. In a statement, prime minister Theresa May said it was not a decision she had taken lightly. In a thinly veiled swipe at Russia, and the Skripals poisoning, she said: “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. We would have preferred an alternative path. But on this occasion there is none.”
The White House said it had “a high level of confidence” that the Syrian regime carried out the chemical weapon attack in Douma.
France, the third partner in these strikes, has issued a statement. President Emmanuel Macron said the attack would be limited to Syria’s chemical weapons facilities.
The US, UK and France continued to build up military resources in the eastern Mediterranean.
“We cannot tolerate the recurring use of chemical weapons, which is an immediate danger for the Syrian people and our collective security,” a statement said.
The US is using Tomahawk cruise missiles in its strikes in Syria, and taking aim at multiple targets in the country, a US official has told Reuters. This would tally with CNN reports that ships and aircraft form part of the attack.
Mattis: “We did everything we could to minimise any chance of civilian casualties. We are aware this is very difficult.”
Syrian state TV says anti-aircraft weapons are being used against jets conducting air strikes. A district in Damascus, Barzeh, which houses a scientific laboratory, has been hit, according to one Reuters witness.
Mattis is asked when he was confident a chemical attack happened. He says yesterday.
May echoes Trump’s sentiments in saying that the strike is targeted and is not intended as heralding an open-ended military presence.
Dunford is taking questions now, and says the Russians were not previously notified of the targets.
She continues the pressure on Russia, whom the UK separately accuses of poisoning former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, saying: “While this action is specifically about deterring the Syrian regime, it will also send a clear signal to anyone else who believes they can use chemical weapons with impunity.”
Dunford makes the point that last time the US conducted an airstrike – following a chemical attack in Ghouta – it was a unilateral action. This time, two allies – the Uk and France – were involved.
She criticises Russia for playing a role in closing off alternatives to military action, referring to a veto by Moscow of a UN security council resolution on investigating the attack in Douma. She says “There is no practicable alternative to the use of force to degrade and deter the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime.”
Mattis passes over to General Dunford. He says three sites have been hit.
May says the fact that the chemical attack happened “should surprise no one” given the regime’s history.
The first target was a science research facility in the greater Damascus area. The second was a storage facility west of Homs they believe held precursor chemicals and sarin. The third was a chemical storage depot and “important command post”.
She adds:
Mattis says the strikes were directed at the Syrian regime and that the military had “gone to great length to avoid civil and foreign casualties”.
This persistent pattern of behaviour must be stopped – not just to protect innocent people in Syria from the horrific deaths and casualties caused by chemical weapons but also because we cannot allow the erosion of the international norm that prevents the use of these weapons. We have sought to use every possible diplomatic channel to achieve this.
The British prime minister, moments after Trump finished speaking.
This evening I have authorised British armed forces to conduct co-ordinated and targeted strikes to degrade the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons capability and deter their use. We are acting together with our American and French allies. In Douma, last Saturday a chemical weapons attack killed up to 75 people, including young children, in circumstances of pure horror.
Reuters says witnesses in Damascus have heard several large explosions and seen smoke on the east side of the city. Douma lies to the north-east. It is unclear if these are related to the US president’s announcement.
Donald Trump has finished speaking now. A Pentagon briefing, presumably shedding light on the targets, will follow in 50 minutes. Stay with us as we make sense of what has happened and will happen.
