United States And Allies Strike Syrian Sites

(NPR) -The U.S., Britain and France carried out airstrikes early Saturday against three sites in Syria in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack last week by President Bashar Assad's regime.

"We are prepared to sustain this response until the Syrian regime stops its use of prohibited chemical agents," President Trump said in televised remarks from the White House.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joe Dunford said the three countries called on warships and piloted aircraft to hit the sites linked to Syria's chemical weapons program.

One site was a science research facility in Damascus, the Syrian capital, where residents said loud explosions rang out. The other two were storage facilities around Homs, a city to the north of Damascus.

There were no immediate reports on casualties or the extent of the damage. The Pentagon said it would provide a more detailed assessment on Saturday morning. The sites were chosen to minimize civilian loss of life and possible release of chemical agents, the Pentagon officials said.

Mr. Mattis stated the number of weapons used was about double those employed in a strike in April 2017. In that instance, 59 Tomahawk missiles were fired at a Syrian airbase.

The suspected chemical attack occurred on April 7 in the Damascus suburb of Douma, which had been held by rebel forces for years in Syria's continuing civil war.

Civilians and rebel forces abandoned Douma following the latest attack. In the days leading up to the U.S. attack, Russia had warned that it would defend its troops in Syria. This has raised fears of a possible direct clash of U.S. and Russian forces.

Source: NPR

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