Syria strikes - as it happened: Bashar al-Assad's chemical weapons capability 'set back for years' by bombing, Pentagon says
Theresa May warns of further strikes if regime uses poison again
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Joint air strikes by the US, UK and France have set back Syria’s chemical weapons capability “for years”, the US military said.
Cruise missiles were fired at three sites in response to what Theresa May called the “despicable and barbaric” attack in Douma last week that is believed to have killed up to 75 people.
Ms May said Bashar al-Assad could face even further strikes if chemical weapons are used again - and the US warned that they were "locked and loaded" if poison used again.
US President Donald Trump declared “mission accomplished” after more than 100 missiles were collectively launched in the early hours of the morning.
During telephone conversations on Saturday afternoon, Ms May, Mr Trump and Emmanuel Macron all agreed that the military strikes in Syria "had been a success".
Downing Street published a document setting out why it believes military action against the Syrian regime was legal after Jeremy Corbyn described the action as legally questionable.
The Russian embassy in the US said it had warned that such actions would "not be left without consequences", adding that insulting President Vladimir Putin was "unacceptable and inadmissible".
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Russia and Syria claimed most of the missiles, numbering about 110, were intercepted, while the Pentagon said Syrian defences had “no effect” on the operation.
Mr Assad, backed also by Iran, said on Saturday the bombings would increase his country’s resolve to “fight and crush terrorism”.
Ms May said she had authorised British forces to conduct precision strikes against Syria to help degrade its chemical weapons capability.
“This is not about intervening in a civil war. It is not about regime change,” Ms May said in a statement. “It is about a limited and targeted strike that does not further escalate tensions in the region and that does everything possible to prevent civilian casualties.”
RAF Tornado jets bombed a chemical weapons facility 15 miles outside Homs, the Ministry of Defence said.
Russia warned of “consequences” for the US-led military strikes, saying the use of missiles on suspected chemical weapons assets were an insult to Vladimir Putin.
“A pre-designed scenario is being implemented,” Russian ambassador Anatoly Antonov said in a statement. “Again, we are being threatened. We warned that such actions will not be left without consequences.”
Earlier, Russia’s military claimed to have evidence that Britain had “direct involvement” in staging the suspected chemical attack in Syria, a charge quickly condemned as “grotesque” by the UK.
Humanitarian volunteers were “seriously pressured” by the UK to speed up plans for a “provocation” in eastern Ghouta, Moscow’s defence ministry suggested.
Britain’s ambassador to the UN condemned the “blatant lie” as “the worst piece of fake news we’ve yet seen from the Russian propaganda machine”.
Later, a spokesman for the UK Foreign Office said: “These accusations from Moscow are just the latest in a number of ludicrous allegations from Russia, who have also said that no attack ever happened.
“This simply shows their desperation to pin the blame on anyone but their client: the [President Bashar] Assad regime
It comes as Russia and the United States traded fresh blows during the latest round of talks at the UN Security Council and amid warnings that the world is at risk of “full-blown military escalation”.
The State Department said the United States has proof at “a very high level of confidence” that the Syrian government of Mr Assad carried out the attack but is still working to identify the mix of chemicals used.
“Syria is responsible. We are all in agreement,” department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters.
Additional reporting by agencies
Asked if the strikes had also been a warning to Russia, Ms May said: "The action that took place last night was an action which was focused on degrading and deterring the operational capability and the willingness of the Syrian regime to continue to use chemical weapons.
"There have been many instances when we have seen them using those chemical weapons.
"But I believe it should also be a message to others that the international community is not going to stand by and allow chemical weapons to be used with impunity."
Ms May said chemical weapons had "all too often" been used in recent times.
"I think it is right that the international community has come together and said we will not accept this," the PM added.
The strikes were in response to "a wider pattern of the use of chemical weapons", Ms May said.
Earlier, Ms May called the suggestion by Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, that the Douma attack was staged by foriegn secret services "grotesque and absurd".
Ms May says she hopes the strikes will "send a message to others" besides Syria about the use of chemical weapons, in an apparent reference to the Salisbury attack last month.
A highly placed Russian politician has likened President Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler after the launch of airstrikes against Syria, and said he regards the action as a move against Russia.
Alexander Sherin, deputy head of the State Duma's defense committee, said Mr Trump "can be called Adolf Hitler No. 2 of our time — because, you see, he even chose the time that Hitler attacked the Soviet Union."
He was quoted by state news agency RIA-Novosti. The Nazi forces' opening attack against the USSR in 1941 was launched at about 4am.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has condemned the overnight US-led missile attack on Syrian chemical weapons targets, and called for an emergency meeting of the UN Council, the Kremlin said on Saturday.
Mr Putin said the US actions in Syria made the humanitarian catastrophe worse and caused pain for civilians, as well has damaging international relations.
Following the strikes a top Russian military officer, Colonel-general Sergei Rudskoi, said his country would consider supplying Syria and other countries with further missile defence systems. Last night's bombing was aimed at destabilising the situation in the region, he claimed.
Gen Rudskoi said Russia may sell S-300 surface-to-air systems to the Assad regime. The S-300, designated SA-10 Grumble by Nato, is an anti-aircraft and anti-missile system.
All French strike aircraft and fuel tanker planes returned safely from their missions in Syria, France has said.
Damascus skies erupt with service to air missile fire as the US launches an attack on Syria targeting different parts of the Syrian capital, early on Saturday, 14 April. The city was rocked by loud explosions that lit up the sky with heavy smoke after US President Donald Trump announced airstrikes in retaliation for the country's alleged use of chemical weapons. (AP/Hassan Ammar)
The Press Association has created this graphic, showing where last night's strikes took place.
The French military fired 12 missiles during its air strikes on Syria, defence ministry officials said, adding there was no indication the missiles had been intercepted.
Whether they were the same 12 Russia earlier said had been launched at the Dumayr air base, and intercepted, was not clear.
The objectives of international strikes on Syria have been met and there are no further attacks planned at this stage, France said.
The Syrian government should be aware that fresh strikes could be planned if it crosses red lines again, however, foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told BFM TV in an interview.
He added that there were no changes to President Emmanuel Macron's planned trip to Russia next month.
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