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
Russian media is now reporting that the head of the country's Foreign Affairs Committee has suggested the US-led attacks are "highly likely" to be an attempt to block or hinder the investigation by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) into the suspected chemical attack in Douma
Investigators are due to be working on the site today.
So far, the response out of Russia has been harsh rhetoric, the risk is if the response goes further than that.
The chairman of the international affairs committee of Russia's upper house of parliament, Konstantin Kosachev, described the air strikes as a groundless attack on a sovereign government, Interfax said.
"It's also highly likely an attempt to create complications for the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons mission which was just starting its work in Syria's Douma, or an attempt to completely derail it," Mr Kosachev was quoted as saying.
Iran's Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned the US-led attacks on Syria and said Washington and its allies would bear the responsibility of the raids' consequences in the region and beyond, Iranian state media reported.
"Undoubtedly, the United States and its allies, which took military action against Syria despite the absence of any proven evidence ... will assume the responsibility for the regional and trans-regional consequences of this adventurism," Iran's Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by state media.
Iran, along with Russia, are the Syrian government's too biggest allies
Hundreds of Syrians are demonstrating in a landmark square of the Syrian capital, waving victory signs and honking their car horns in a show of defiance.
The demonstrations broke out following a wave of US, British and French military strikes to punish President Bashar Assad for suspected chemical attack against civilians. The Syrian government has denied the accusations.
In Damascus, the president's seat of power, hundreds of residents gathered in Omayyad Square, many waving Syrian, Russian and Iranian flags. Some clapped their hands and danced, others drove in convoys, honking their horns.
"We are your men, Bashar," they shouted.
State TV broadcast live from the square where a large crowd of civilians mixed with men in uniforms, including an actor, lawmakers and other figures.
"Good morning steadfastness," one broadcaster said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry is now claiming that more than 100 missiles were fired at Syria, but that a "significant number" were intercepted
Russian legislator Vladimir Dzhabarov has said that his country will likely call for a meeting of the United Nations security council to discuss US, British and French air strikes on Syria, RIA news agency cited him as saying.
"The situation is being analysed right now. Russia will demand a meeting of the U.N. security council, I am sure," Mr Dzhabarov, who is the deputy head of Russia's foreign affairs committee, was quoted as saying.
Russia’s foreign ministry Maria Zakharova has criticised the Western media for its coverage, which it says informed the White House for its attacks.
“The White House stated that its assuredness of the chemical attack from Damascus was based on ‘mass media, reports of symptoms, video, photos as well as credible information’. After this statement the American and other Western mass media should understand their responsibility in what is happening.”
Ms Zakharova compared the situation to the start of the Iraq War in 2003 based on claims Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction.
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has tweeted his support for the UK joining the military action taken against Syria.
France's defense minister says its joint military operation with the US and Britain against Syria targeted three sites and that Russia was informed ahead of time.
Defense Minister Florence Parly told reporters that the French military sent fighter jets from multiple bases in France and used missile-equipped frigates in the Mediterranean in the operation.
She said strikes targeted the "main research center" for the Syrian chemical weapons programme and "two important production sites."
She added that "with our allies, we ensured that the Russians were warned ahead of time." Syria's ally Russia has denounced the western military action.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the operation did not target Syria's allies or civilians but President Bashar Assad's government because of its alleged use of chemical weapons. Syria's government denies using them.
Former UK government minister David Miliband, who is now the president & CEO of the International Rescue Committee has made clear diplomacy must follow the strikes on Syria.
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