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
The US, France and Britain will brief Nato envoys on Saturday about their coordinated air strikes on Syrian government targets overnight, an alliance official said.
The meeting of the 29 ambassadors to Nato is expected to start at about 1pm.
Nato was not involved in the strikes but the body's secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said he supported them.
"This will reduce the regime's ability to further attack the people of Syria with chemical weapons," he said.
The Independent's Moscow correspondent, Oliver Carroll, has more on Russia's reaction to last night's air strikes.
President Bashar al-Assad has told his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani that a US-led attack on Saturday would increase Syria's resolve to "fight and crush terrorism in every inch" of the country, the Syrian presidency said.
Mr Rouhani told Mr Assad that Iran would continue to stand by Syria, "expressing his confidence that this aggression would not weaken the determination of the Syrian people in its war against terrorism", it was reported.
We are running the full story here:
Jeremy Corbyn has spoken further about last night's air strikes, following his comments this morning labelling them "legally questionable" and unlikely to bring peace.
During a visit to Huddersfield, the Labour leader said: "I had a late night conversation with the Prime Minister and my whole point is that parliament should be consulted, parliament should be allowed to take a view on this but, instead, the strikes were launched last night.
"Parliament is in session on Monday. She could have come to Parliament on Monday to discuss the whole situation. Instead, they've launched these strikes.
"She claims there's a legal basis for it.
"I've asked her in a letter I've just sent her this morning to publish in full the legal basis and justification for it."
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has said it will continue its work in Syria "to establish facts around the allegations of chemical weapons use in Douma".
Here is our story about how the world is reacting to last night's air strikes in Syria, carried out by the US, UK and France.
Our political editor Joe Watts has the full story on Theresa May's grilling by journalists this morning, and looks ahead to Monday when she will give a statement in parliament.
A Syrian man carries a child as buses with Jaish al-Islam fighters and their families on board arrive at the Abu al-Zindeen checkpoint from their former rebel bastion of Douma in Eastern Ghouta, on 13 April.
The checkpoint is controlled by Turkish-backed rebel fighters near the Syrian town of al-Bab in the northern Aleppo province.
A deal between Syria's government and rebels for Douma's surrender saw busloads of hostages, families and fighters leave the enclave. In total, tens of thousands of people were expected to leave. (Photo: AFP/Nazeer al-Khatib)
Downing Street has said it will release a summary of the legal advice it received for the air strikes on Syria later today.
It comes after Jeremy Corbyn wrote to Theresa May asking her to outline the advice, having called the bombings "legally questionable" this morning.
The UN Security Council is to meet at 3pm at the request of Russia, following last night's air strikes.
Moscow is in contact with the US, UK and France, the RIA news organisation reported Russia's deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, as saying.
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