News / International
Donald Trump launches US air strikes against Assad regime, Russian military informed
07 Apr 2017 at 07:31hrs | Views
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The United States launched a military strike Thursday on a Syrian government target in response to their chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of civilians earlier in the week.
On President Donald Trump's orders, US warships launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian government airbase where the warplanes that carried out the chemical attacks were based, US officials said.
The strike is the first direct military action the US has taken against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country's six-year civil war and represents a substantial escalation of the US military campaign in the region, which could be interpreted by the Syrian government as an act of war.
According to AFP, Syrian state TV called US strikes an act of "aggression".
The Russian military, who had a presence at the air base, were informed by the Pentagon about the air strikes before the missiles struck.
However a Russian MP, Yury Shvitkin, has been cited saying 'US air strikes on Syria are political double standards.'
According to the RIA news agency Shvitkin said the United States was using the Islamic State militant group as a tool for its own geopolitical interests.
The UK Government has said they fully supports the US action.
Photos of the Air strike
On President Donald Trump's orders, US warships launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian government airbase where the warplanes that carried out the chemical attacks were based, US officials said.
The strike is the first direct military action the US has taken against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country's six-year civil war and represents a substantial escalation of the US military campaign in the region, which could be interpreted by the Syrian government as an act of war.
According to AFP, Syrian state TV called US strikes an act of "aggression".
#BREAKING Syrian state TV calls US strikes an act of "aggression"
— AFP news agency (@AFP) April 7, 2017
The Russian military, who had a presence at the air base, were informed by the Pentagon about the air strikes before the missiles struck.
However a Russian MP, Yury Shvitkin, has been cited saying 'US air strikes on Syria are political double standards.'
According to the RIA news agency Shvitkin said the United States was using the Islamic State militant group as a tool for its own geopolitical interests.
The UK Government has said they fully supports the US action.
Photos of the Air strike
Here are photos of the US airstrike against Syria tonight, via the Pentagon. pic.twitter.com/dlkUEjvBlG
— Jim Dalrymple II (@JimDalrympleII) April 7, 2017
Source - Online
