The United States, Britain and France carried out a wave of pre-dawn strikes against Syria’s regime Saturday in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack, lighting up the sky of Damascus as explosions shook the city.
Branding last week’s alleged gas attack the “crimes of a monster”, US President Donald Trump announced the action against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in a White House address, defying fierce warnings from Damascus ally Russia.
A few minutes later, an AFP correspondent in Damascus heard a series of huge blasts and residents rushed to their balconies. For around 45 minutes, explosions echoed and the sound of warplanes roared over the city, as flashes flared in the distance.
When dawn broke, plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the city’s north and east.
In the biggest foreign military action so far against Syria’s regime, Western officials said a barrage of cruise and air-to-land missiles hit what they said were sites linked to chemical weapons development.
The targets included a scientific research facility in the Damascus area, a chemical weapons storage facility west of the city of Homs and a third location near Homs that contained both a command post and a chemical weapons equipment storage facility, the US military said.
