Damascus residents criticize an American air strike on a Syrian airbase that marked the first direct US assault on President Bashar al-Assad’s government, saying it amounts to “international terrorism against a sovereign state.”
Najeed Haj Bakri, university student said, “The US will intervene, whether it’s in the Shayrat airfield or any other airfield, every time the Syrian army advances and captures new areas. The Israelis and Turks did the same thing.”
Esam Remeh, a Damascus resident, described what the United States did as “international terrorism” against a sovereign state
“This is international terrorism against a sovereign state. We thought our army was fighting gangs but we discovered that it was fighting global armies. This attack is a proof that these armies from countries all over the world have been fighting us for six years.”
The Damascus regime and its ally Russia furiously condemned an American air strike on a Syrian airbase Friday that marked the first direct US assault on President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
US allies rallied around Washington after President Donald Trump launched the massive strike in retaliation for a “barbaric” chemical attack he blamed on Assad.
But Assad’s office called the strike “foolish and irresponsible” and Moscow announced a series of retaliatory steps including plans to strengthen Syrian air defences.
Russia also demanded an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council and US diplomats said it was to meet at 11:30 am (1530 GMT) on Friday.
The strike — Trump’s biggest military decision since taking office — marked a dramatic escalation in American involvement in Syria’s six-year civil war.
It followed days of outrage at images of dead children and victims suffering convulsions from the suspected sarin gas attack in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun.
US officials said 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from Navy ships in the Mediterranean at the Shayrat airfield at 3:40 am (0040 GMT), dealing heavy damage to the base from where Washington believes Tuesday’s deadly attack was launched.
Syrian state news agency SANA said nine civilians including four children were killed in villages near the base.
“What America did is nothing but foolish and irresponsible behaviour, which only reveals its short-sightedness and political and military blindness to reality,” Assad’s office said in a statement.
– Iran rejects ‘bogus allegations’ –
Syria’s regime has denied using chemical weapons in Khan Sheikhun, where at least 86 people, including 30 children, were reported killed and more than 500 wounded.
With US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson due in Moscow next week, the Kremlin called the US strike a “gross… violation of international law” and warned it would inflict “considerable damage” on US-Russia ties.
It immediately suspended a deal with the United States aimed at avoiding clashes in Syrian airspace.
The Russian military also announced a series of measures “to strengthen and improve the effectiveness of the Syrian armed forces’ air defence system” in the wake of the strike.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif of Iran, another staunch Assad ally, said on Twitter that the US strike was based on “bogus CW (chemical weapons) allegations” and would aid jihadists in Syria like the Islamic State group.
Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey all supported Washington, with Ankara also calling for a no-fly zone in Syria.
Trump announced the strike in a brief televised address delivered hours after the Security Council failed to agree on a probe into the suspected chemical attack.
“Tonight I call on all civilised nations to join us in seeking to end this slaughter and bloodshed in Syria and also to end terrorism of all kinds and all types,” Trump said.
The missiles were fired from the USS Porter and the USS Ross, which belong to the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet, in the eastern Mediterranean. (Agence France Presse)