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A surface-to-air missile lights up the sky over Damascus, Syria as the U.S. launches a military strike. pic.twitter.com/b3iOOXNY2P
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— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 14, 2018
Tonight, at the order of @POTUS, U.S. Armed Forces, with Britain and France, launched strikes against chemical weapon sites in Syria. America and our allies will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons against men, women and children. God bless our courageous troops & allies.
— Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) April 14, 2018
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 14, 2018
As reported by FoxNews
President Donald Trump on Friday night announced that he has approved military strikes in Syria against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The decision follows a suspected chemical gas attack from the Assad regime on a rebel-held town near the Syrian capital last weekend.
The United States launched the response, along with assurance from France and the United Kingdom, Trump stated from the White House about 9 p.m. EDT.
“A short time ago, I ordered the United States armed forces to launch precision strikes on targets associated with the chemical weapons capabilities of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad,” Trump said from the White House. “A combined operation with the armed forces of France and the United Kingdom is now under way. We thank them both.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said the operation was targeting the “clandestine chemical arsenal” in Syria.
British Prime Minister Theresa May also issued a statement.
“This evening I have authorized British armed forces to conduct coordinated and targeted strikes to degrade the Syrian Regime’s chemical weapons capability and deter their use,” May said.
Trump’s announcement immediately preceded reports of loud explosions lighting up the sky in Damascus, the Syrian capital.
Syrian TV reported that Syrian air defenses responded to the U.S.-British-French attack. There have been multiple strikes against at least two sites, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said late Friday from the Pentagon.
“Important infrastructure was destroyed,” Dunford said, noting that sites associated with the Syrian chemical weapons program were both “targeted and destroyed.”
Trump said the U.S. is prepared to “sustain” pressure on Assad until he ends what the president called a criminal pattern of killing his own people with internationally banned chemical weapons.
But Defense Secretary Jim Mattis labeled the strikes “right now” as being “a one-time shot,” adding that no additional attacks are currently planned.