The United States, France and the UK have launched military strikes in Syria to punish dictator Bashar al-Assad for his suspected chemical attack against civilians and to deter him from doing it again, President Donald Trump has announced.
Explosions lit up the skies over Damascus, the Syrian capital, as Mr Trump spoke from the White House.
Syrian television reported that Syria’s air defenses, which are substantial, have responded to the attack.
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Mr Trump said the US is prepared to sustain pressure on Mr Assad until he ends what the president called a criminal pattern of killing his own people with internationally banned chemical weapons.
Mr Trump chastised Syria's two main allies, Russia and Iran, for their roles in supporting "murderous dictators", and noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin had guaranteed a 2013 international agreement for Mr Assad to get rid of all of his chemical weapons. He called on Moscow to change course and join the West in seeking a more responsible regime in Damascus.
"Russia must decide if it will continue down this dark path, or if it will join with civilised nations as a force for stability and peace," Mr Trump said.
"Hopefully, someday we'll get along with Russia, and maybe even Iran - but maybe not."
British Prime Minister Theresa May said in London that the West had tried "every possible" diplomatic means to stop Assad from using chemical weapons.
"But our efforts have been repeatedly thwarted" by Syria and Russia, she said.
"So there is no practicable alternative to the use of force to degrade and deter the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime," Ms May said.
"This is not about intervening in a civil war. It is not about regime change."
The US decision to strike Syria came after days of deliberations and marked Mr Trump's second order to attack Mr Assad's forces; he authorised a barrage of Tomahawk cruise missiles to hit a single Syrian airfield in April 2017 in retaliation for the regime's use of sarin gas against civilians.
The air campaign could frustrate those in Mr Trump's base who oppose military intervention and are wary of open-ended conflicts.
The allied operation comes a year after the US missile strike that Mr Trump said was meant to deter Mr Assad from further use of chemical weapons. Since that did not work, a more intense attack would aim to degrade his ability to carry out further such attacks, and would try to do this by hitting Syrian aircraft, military depots and chemical facilities, among other things.
The one-off missile strike in April 2017 targeted the airfield from which the Syrian aircraft had launched their gas attack. But the damage was limited, and a defiant Mr Assad returned to episodic use of chlorine and perhaps other chemicals.
A broader question is whether the allied attacks are part of a revamped, coherent political strategy to end the war on terms that do not leave Mr Assad in power.
The new strikes appear to signal Mr Trump's willingness to draw the United States more deeply into the Syrian conflict. Just weeks ago, Mr Trump said he wanted to end US involvement in Syria and bring American troops home to focus on the homeland.
The participation of British and French forces enables Mr Trump to assert a wider international commitment against the use of chemical weapons, but the multi-pronged attack carries the risk of Russian retaliation.
In his nationwide address, Mr Trump stressed that he has no interest in a long-time fight with Syria.
"America does not seek an indefinite presence in Syria under no circumstances," he said.
"As other nations step up their contributions, we look forward to the day when we can bring our warriors home."
The US has about 2000 troops on the ground in Syria as advisers to a makeshift group of anti-Islamic State fighters known as the Syrian Democratic Forces. They are in eastern Syria, far from Damascus.
A US-led coalition has been conducting airstrikes in Syria since September 2014 as part of a largely successful effort to break the IS grip on both Syria and Iraq.
AP / Newshub.
