As it happened: US, UK and France strike Syria

The European Union is supportive of all efforts aimed at preventing the use of chemical weapons, its High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said in a statement on Saturday.

She added that the EU reiterates its “strongest condemnation of the repeated use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime, as confirmed by the OPCW/UN Joint Investigative Mechanism,” including the most recent suspected chemical attack in Douma. 

The statement said: 

The EU has called on “all countries, notably Russia and Iran” to use their influence in preventing any further use of chemical weapons, according to the statement. 

Undertaking new military action in Syria remains on the table should red lines be crossed again, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Saturday.

In an interview with the CNN affiliate BFMTV, Le Drian said there was “no doubt” there was a chemical attack in Douma, and that “chlorine was definitely used.”

Le Drian said the objectives of Syria strikes have been met, a large part of Syria’s chemical arsenal has been destroyed, and all jets are back safely.

He added there is a need to continue talking to Russia, and that French President Emmanuel Macron’s trip to St. Petersburg at the end of May will go ahead as planned.

The president of the Syrian regime, Bashar al-Assad, said that Saturday’s airstrikes will not stop him from “fighting terrorism” across the country, according to Syria State Television.

According to Syria State TV, Assad said: 

A Syrian woman carries a portrait of President Bashar al-Assad as makes her way to Umayyad Square in Damascus on Saturday to condemn the strikes carried out by the US, Britain and France against the Syrian regime. 

Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad has spoken to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani following trilateral airstrikes conducted by the United States, the United Kingdom and France which pummeled multiple targets in Syria, according to Syrian State TV.

During the phone call on Saturday, Rouhani added that “Iran will continue to stand by Syria,” Syria State TV reported.

Meanwhile, Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported on Saturday that the country’s Ministry of Health has offered to send medical aid to Syria should it be required.

CNN’s National Security Analyst Juliette Kayyem said that she is not worried about the US being dragged into war, and that the allied airstrikes are unlikely to break the status quo in Syria.

While Germany did not join the US precision strikes on Syrian targets overnight (as the United Kingdom and France did), the country does support the action taken to deter the Syrian regime from using chemical weapons on its own citizens, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday morning.

In a statement released on the Bundestag website, Merkel said:

Following the trilateral airstrikes launched in Syria, a meeting of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) will be held Saturday afternoon, a NATO official tells CNN. France, the United Kingdom and the United States will brief allies on actions taken in Syria, the official said.

The NAC is the most important decision-making body within NATO. It is made up of representatives of the Allies, including ambassadors, ministers, and heads of state and government. There is no voting or decision by majority.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense says they believe the airstrikes overnight by the US, UK and France were not in retaliation to the alleged chemical attack in Douma, but were instead a response to the “success” of the Syrian army in liberating their territory from international terrorism. 

At a press conference, Russia’s Colonel General Sergey Rudskoy emphasized how the airstrikes were carried out on the same day the OPCW is to start its work in Douma.

A British Typhoon jet lands at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, following US, British and French strikes on Syria overnight.

The overnight airstrikes against Syrian targets by the US and its allies will be seen as a major victory for Syrian president Bashar Al Assad – and his military. The Syrian presidency posted a video on Twitter of Assad casually walking to work in the morning. Syria claims to have shot down many of the missiles that targeted Damascus and the alleged chemical storage facilities near Homs. Meanwhile, Russia appears to be taunting the US, saying the President Trump’s “smart” and shiny missiles were taken down by the Syrian military using weapons developed in the USSR in the 1970s. So far, these strikes do not appear to have depleted the conventional capabilities of the Syrian army. 

Syria’s Foreign Ministry said the joint US, UK and French airstrikes were a “flagrant violation of international law and the principals of UN charter,” according to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency.

“Syria calls on the international community to strongly condemn this aggression, which will lead to nothing but the igniting of tensions around the world and pose a threat to international peace and security as a whole,” the Ministry said.

Russia is calling for an immediate United Nations Security Council meeting to discuss the “aggressive actions” of the United States and its allies, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said in a statement Saturday.

Responding to a question about why she did not seek parliamentary approval before launching military strikes on Syria, flouting convention, British Prime Minister Theresa May reiterated that she felt the action was necessary.

She said the action was taken “in a timely fashion” in response to last weekend’s alleged chemical weapons attack.

“For operational security reasons, it was right we acted in the way we did,” May said.

May said she would make a statement to Parliament on Monday.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said that the strikes against Syria were “absolutely in Britain’s national interest.”

She said the action was taken to reinforce international norms against the use of chemical weapons, adding that the use of a “nerve agent on Britain’s streets is part of a systematic pattern of disregarding these norms.”

The UK government has accused Moscow of being behind the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with a nerve agent.

The Syria strikes send a “clear message to anyone else who thinks they can use chemical weapons with impunity,” May said.

British Prime Minister Theresa May is speaking outside of Downing Street in London.

She said she approved “targeted and coordinated strikes to degrade Syria’s chemical weapons capabilty and deter their use.”

“We are confident of (the strike’s) success,” she added.

May said the strikes were in response to the attack in Douma last week, from which “harrowing images” emerged of what appeared to be a chemical weapons attack on “innocent families who … were seeking shelter.”

“A significant body of information including intelligence indicates the Syrian regime was responsible for this attack,” she said. “Reliable intelligence indicates Syrian government officials coordinated the use of chlorine in Douma.”

On previous occasions when chemical weapons have been used “any attempt to hold the perpetrators to account has been blocked by Russia at the (United Nations) Security Council,” May said, adding she feared “diplomatic action on its own will be no more successful than it was in the past.”

Based on advice from the UK attorney general and others, May said she deemed it “both right and legal to take military action,” adding it was “not about intervening in a civil war (or) regime change.”

May ignored a convention that she seek parliamentary approval before launching any military action. While she was not legally required to let lawmakers vote, many British politicians, including opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, had called on her to do so.

In a statement published as May was speaking, Corbyn said “this legally questionable action risks escalating further … an already devastating conflict.”

“Britain should be playing a leadership role to bring about a ceasefire in the conflict, not taking instructions from Washington and putting British military personnel in harm’s way,” he said.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said Russia condemns the “attack on Syria” in a statement issued by the Kremlin on Saturday.

Putin called the missile strikes an “act of aggression against a sovereign state” and against the United Nation charter.

Turkey, which has supported forces fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said the joint US, UK and French missile strikes were an “appropriate response” to the alleged chemical weapons attack on the Syrian city of Douma last week.

“We welcome this operation which has eased humanity’s conscience in the face of the attack in Douma, largely suspected to have been carried out by the regime,” Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“Turkey believes that it is of critical importance that such crimes do not go unpunished and that accountability is ensured in order to prevent the recurrence of similar crimes.”

Danny Makki, a freelance journalist based in the Syrian capital, said he was woken in the early hours of the morning by the strikes on Damascus.

“It was pretty terrifying initially,” he told CNN, saying he heard around 12 separate strikes.

“The Syrian air defenses began to launch missiles and tracer fire at the sky in an attempt to down some of the missiles,” he aded. “You could hear jets in the sky.”

Makki said that in the immediate aftermath of the alleged chemical weapons attack on April 7, “everyone in Damascus and Syria was on very high alert” but this gradually subsided as an attack did not seem forthcoming.

“People were very shocked and surprised” by the joint US, UK and France attack, he said. “After around two hours of initial chaos, people went back to their lives.”

“People here have spent seven years in war so they’ve grown accustomed to these situations,” Makki added. “Life has gradually gone back to normal now.”

Separately, Firas Abdullah, an anti-government activist who recently evacuated from Ghouta, said the attacks were “just a media strike.”

“We know the effects of these strikes on the ground. This is not enough to stop (Syrian President) Bashar al-Assad,” he told CNN.

France’s Defense Minister Florence Parly tweeted a video of a French warship launching missiles against Syria.

She said the target was a chemical weapons production plant in the country, one of three sites hit by the joint US, UK and French attacks.

The strikes against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime may stop Syria from using chemical weapons in the future, but it’s sending a message that there is still carte blanche to use all other air power.

Those Syrians living under areas that are under constant aerial bombardment and siege will see that their fate is not the main calculus – this is not about an enduring end to their suffering but rather another move on the global deadly political chess board.

In response to the strikes by the US, UK and France, Raed Jarrar, advocacy director for Middle East North Africa at Amnesty International, said the Syrian people have “endured six years of devastating attacks, including chemical attacks, many of which amount to war crimes.”

“All precautions must be taken to minimize harm to civilians in any military action. People already living in fear of losing their lives in unlawful attacks must not be further punished for the alleged violations of the Syrian government,” he said.

“Millions have fled Syria to escape violence and persecution. The Trump administration must not turn its back on the suffering of men, women, and children by continuing to ban refugees from entering the United States.

It is time for the US to reopen our doors to people trying to escape from the violence in Syria.”

US President Donald Trump’s speech on the Syria strikes demonstrated the competing strands of his “America First” foreign policy.

Just two weeks ago, Trump said it was time to get troops out of Syria to let regional powers fix the morass there. But on Friday, he promised a sustained military campaign to prevent President Bashar al-Assad using chemical weapons. At the same time, he warned against the illusion that American action could mend a broken region, exemplifying a common, ambivalent thread between his administration and that of Obama, a predecessor who he disdains.

Read more here.

The office of the Syrian Presidency tweeted a video of Bashar al-Assad going to work, after missiles struck multiple regime positions overnight.

“A morning of steadfastness,” the caption reads.

The Syrian Armed Forces said in a statement the US, France and the UK “fired 110 missiles targeting Syria on Saturday at 3:55 a.m. local time.”

Syrian defense systems “intercepted most of the missiles but some hit targets including the Research Center in Barzeh.”

The statement added that action against the Syrian regime “will not discourage our armed forces and supporting forces from continuing to crush the remnants of terrorist groups across Syria.”

Israel has declared its backing for the US-led strikes on Syria. An Israeli official said: “Last year, President Trump made clear that the use of chemical weapons crosses a red line. Tonight, under American leadership, the United States, France and the United Kingdom enforced that line.”

“Syria continues to engage in and provide a base for murderous actions, including those of Iran, that put its territory, its forces and its leadership at risk,” the official said.

Syria and Russia blamed Israel for striking an air base in Syria last week, in which a number of people were killed or injured. Israel has previously carried out multiple military operations in Syria.

Australia Defense Minister Marise Payne has issued a statement in support of strikes against the Syrian regime by the US, UK and France.

Payne called for the UN Security Council to approve an independent investigation of the alleged chemical weapons attack, which the US has blamed on the Syrian regime but both Damascus and Moscow said was fabricated by rebels and their sympathizers.

The British Ministry of Defense has published photos of its Tornado jets in action overnight. It said that four GR4 jets were used to launch Storm Shadow missiles at a military facility 15 miles west of Homs.

In an accompanying statement, UK Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson said :

I have been in Syria 20 times, including with the Russian military and on 18 Syrian government visas.

The Syrian government will see this as a major victory. Three facilities were targeted but their air defenses appear to have managed to take out at least some of the missiles that were fired toward them and the Syrian military’s capabilities have in no way been depleted.

Before the strikes there was grave concern that the US might conduct a wider-ranging air campaign which could endanger the Syrian military and perhaps even influence the civil war, which government forces have been winning since the Russians entered the scene.

It seems these strikes were more symbolic than anything else.

Russia and Syria claims that many of the missiles launched by the US, UK and France were shot down. The Russian news agency RIA said more than 100 missiles were launched, “aimed at military and civilian objects of the Syrian Arab Republic.”

The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported government forces “confronted on Saturday a tripartite aggression launched by the US, France and Britain on a number of sites in the surroundings of Damascus and Homs.”

Targets included a research center in Barzeh and warehouses for the Syrian army in Homs, SANA said.

Air defenses over Homs “intercepted several missiles and downed them,” it added.

“The missiles that targeted a military site in Homs have been intercepted to change their track and cause the injury of three civilians.”

A building containing scientific labs and centers in Barzeh was destroyed, the report added.

Russian state-run outlet Sputnik also claimed most of the missiles launched against Syria were intercepted by air defenses.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Sputnik said, Syria repelled the Western attack using air defense systems made in the Soviet Union, including the S-125, BUK, and S-200.

There has not yet been any comment from the US, UK or France on whether they believe missiles were intercepted.

France has been very forward-leaning in advocating a strike on Syria after the alleged chemical weapons attacks a week ago.

On Friday, Paris took the unusual action of putting together a video, seen on government websites and Twitter accounts, which described the need for action and said that “France would shoulder its responsibility.”

French Foreign Minister Jean Yves Le Drian said joining in the attack was “legitimate, proportional and targeted” and justified the action without UN Security Council approval on the basis that diplomatic efforts in the UN to stop Syria from using chemical weapons were repeatedly blocked by the Russians, and that Syria had agreed in 2013 under Resolution 2118 to destroy chemical weapons stocks.

France employed cruise missiles fired from a frigate in the the eastern Mediterranean and stand off cruise missiles fired from Rafale aircraft based in France which had to be refueled numerous times in flight to accomplish the long mission.

Their stand off missiles have a range of 250 kilometers (155 miles) which kept them out of Syrian airspace when they fired. 

An official with the US-led coalition fighting ISIS in Syria says there are signs of retaliation against American and coalition troops, after the air strikes launched against the country earlier.

There are about 2,000 US troops currently inside Syria.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the overnight airstrikes in Syria, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) said Saturday.

“The attack is the blatant violation of international laws, as well as ignoring the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said.

Speaking at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the country had “acted in accordance with our words, in accordance with our responsibility and in coordination with our allies.”

“The regime of Mr Assad deliberately decided to break the taboo of the 20th century, which is the use of chemical weapons,” Le Drian said in a statement on behalf of French President Emmanuel Macron.

“(Assad) hasn’t hesitated to break international law.”

He added France had three imperatives going forward: The dismantling of the Syrian chemical weapons program, a ceasefire across Syria, and a crisis exit plan.

At 3 a.m. Paris time, French forces “in close coordination with US and British troops” conducted an operation in Syria, said French Defense Minister Florence Parly.

“On a practical level, this operation required air and naval means, multi-mission frigates accompanied by support ships were deployed in the Mediterranean Sea. At the same time an air raid left at night from multiple air bases in France,” she said.

“These different means fired… cruise missiles at the chosen targets in close coordination with our British and American partners.”

She added that France does “not seek confrontation, and we refuse any possibility of military escalation.”

“We had ensured that the Russians were warned beforehand,” Parly said.

The airstrikes did not hit Russia’s air and naval bases, Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement on Saturday, state news agency TASS reported.

According to TASS, the statement said that “none of the launched missiles entered the zone of responsibility of Russian Federation air defense units, protecting facilities in Tartus (naval base) and Hmeymim (air base).

Three civilians were injured by airstrikes in the city of Homs, according to Syria State TV.

“Several missiles were intercepted and derailed, thus they wounded civilians “Syria state TV said.

One year ago the US launched its first military assault against the Syrian regime, a move some thought would be a game-changer in that country’s gruesome civil war.

On President Trump’s orders, US warships pummeled a government airbase with missiles on April 6, 2017, a day after more than 80 Syrians died in a chemical attack.

Trump said he took action in response because that chemical attack “crossed a lot of lines for me.”

Here’s how the attack unfolded:

— US warships launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian government airbase that was home to the warplanes that carried out the chemical attacks.

— The strike took place at 8:40 p.m. ET (3:40 a.m. local time), when there would have been minimal activity at the base.

— Six people were killed in the retaliatory US airstrike, which US Secretary of Defense James Mattis claimed last year destroyed about 20% of the Syrian government’s operational aircraft.

— It targeted aircraft, aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, air defense systems, and “the things that make the airfield operate,” Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters.

It was the first direct military action taken by the US against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s seven-year civil war. 

Acting Secretary of State John J. Sullivan spent Friday engaged in the Syria strikes, according to a State Department official.

As soon as the strikes started, Sullivan called several members of Congress, according to the official. 

The acting secretary is speaking with foreign counterparts now.

Sullivan and staff were camped out at the embassy in Peru for the National Security Council meeting and the calls. Sullivan and staff watched President Trump’s speech on television. 

The State Department official said they’ve “been working this issue the entire time,” including joining President Trump’s calls with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday and participating in the NSC principals meeting Thursday. 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged members to “show restraint in these dangerous circumstances.”

He also called on nations to “avoid any acts that could escalate the situation and worsen the suffering of the Syrian people.”

“Any use of chemical weapons is abhorrent,” he continued. “The suffering it causes is horrendous. I have repeatedly expressed my deep disappointment that the Security Council failed to agree on a dedicated mechanism for effective accountability for the use of chemical weapons in Syria. I urge the Security Council to assume its responsibilities and fill this gap. I will continue to engage with member states to help achieve this objective.”

Air-launched cruise missiles were among the munitions used in the strikes against Syria, according to two US defense officials. 

Air launch cruise missiles are fired from aircraft in flight and can be done from outside the range of Syrian airspace.

CNN reported earlier that US B-1 bombers were used in the strikes. B-1 bombers are capable of firing air launched cruise missiles.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, in a statement on Facebook, said the US struck Syria when the country finally had a chance at peace.

“One must be really exceptional to strike Syria’s capital when the country finally got a chance for a peaceful future,” she wrote.

Zakharova accused the White House of relying on media reports to make its decision on whether to strike Syria.

“The White House said that the confidence in the Damascus standing behind the chemical attack is based on ‘the media, reports of symptoms, videos and photos, as well as on credible information’,” she wrote. “15 years ago [before invading Iraq], the White House used a test tube and its State Department, now instead of a test tube Washington has used the media.”

The UK Ministry of Defense has issued a statement on the air strikes in Syria, saying it has joined allied in “a precision strike on Syrian installations involved in the regime’s use of chemical weapons against its own people.”

“The UK element of the carefully coordinated joint action was contributed by four Royal Air Force Tornado GR4s,” the statement said. “They launched Storm Shadow missiles at a military facility – a former missile base – some fifteen miles west of Homs, where the regime is assessed to keep chemical weapon precursors stockpiled in breach of Syria’s obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention.”

The British Minister of Defense has said “the international community has responded decisively with legal and proportionate military force.”

French President Emmanuel Macron issued the following statement tonight following the strikes in Syria, which were done in retaliation to last weekend’s chemical attack on civilians:

France, the UK and US were a part of a “combined operation” that struck targets in Syria tonight, Trump said earlier.

A Twitter account run by the French president’s office posted this video of the French Armed Forces taking off to launch their part of the strikes.

The Elysee Palace took this photo of French President Emmanuel Macron as he ordered French forces to intervene in Syria tonight.

Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued a statement praising President Trump’s decision to strike Syria as punishment for the chemical weapons attack.

But McCain also called on Trump to set a “comprehensive strategy” in both Syria and the Middle East.

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis briefs members of the media on Syria at the Pentagon April 13, 2018 in Arlington, Virginia. President Donald Trump has ordered a joint force strike on Syria with Britain and France over the recent suspected chemical attack by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

US Defense Secretary James Mattis was asked if the US and its allies planned to continue military operations beyond tonight’s strikes in Syria.

He said it all depends on Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

“Should he decide to use more chemical weapons in the future and of course — the powers that have signed the chemical weapons prohibition have every reason to challenge Assad if should he choose to violate that, but right now this is a one-time shot and I believe that it sent a very strong message to dissuade him to, to deter him from doing this again.”

What Trump said earlier tonight

However, earlier tonight, Trump indicated the strikes would continue until the Syrian regimes use of chemical weapons ends.

“We are prepared to sustain this response until the Syrian regime stops its use of prohibited chemical agents,” Trump said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who was reportedly on a commercial flight when President Trump announced the Syria strikes, has issued this statement warning the Trump administration to avoid getting the US in a “greater and more involved war in Syria.”

Schumer, a New York Democrat, praised “the professionalism and skill of our Armed Forces” in April 2017, the last time Trump ordered strikes on Syria, saying it was “the right thing to do.”

He also added that “it is incumbent on the Trump administration to come up with a strategy and consult with Congress before implementing it.”

At least one US Navy warship based in the Red Sea participated in today’s strikes according to two US military officials.

US B-1 bombers were also used in the strikes in Syria, according to two US defense officials.

Anatoly Antonov, Russian ambassador to the US, issued a statement on Facebook in response to the strikes on Syria.

He accused the West of carrying out a “pre-designed scenario.” He said there would be “consequences,” and the responsibility for them lies with Washington, London and Paris.

Antonov added: “Insulting the President of Russia is unacceptable and inadmissible,” and said that the US “has no moral right to blame other countries” since it possesses a large arsenal of chemical weapons of its own.

US Defense Secretary James Mattis was asked how the US could assure that the strike will work to stop the Assad regime from using chemical weapons again.

Mattis said “nothing is certain.”

But this time, he said, the US used double the amount of weapons the military used in last year strike in Syria.

What happened last year in Syria

One year ago the US launched its first military assault against the Syrian regime, a move some thought would be a game-changer in that country’s gruesome civil war.

On President Trump’s orders, US warships pummeled a government airbase with missiles on April 6, 2017, a day after more than 80 Syrians died in a chemical attack.

Trump said he took action in response because that chemical attack “crossed a lot of lines for me.”

US Defense Secretary James Mattis told reporters that President Trump is legally authorized to order these Syria strikes — which were ordered without congressional authorization — under Article II of the Constitution.

It reads in part, “The president shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States.”

“We believe the president has ever reason to defend vital American interests and that is what he did here tonight under that authority,” Mattis said.

Does that make this “legal”?

The Trump administration has suggested that they are, as an exercise of the President’s inherent power under Article II of the US Constitution, according to CNN legal analyst and national security law professor Steve Vladeck the last time Trump ordered strikes on Syria.

At least judged against the constitutional text, historical practice, and contemporary understanding, this argument is a stretch – but it’s going to take a bit of work to explain why.

What does the Constitution say?

According to Vladeck, neither the text of the Constitution nor historical precedent conclusively settle when the president needs Congress to approve the use of military force. The Constitution divides the war powers between Congress and the President, and leaves unresolved exactly when uses of military force do and do not require Congress’s sign-off.

Article I of the Constitution gives Congress the powers to “declare war,” “raise and support armies,” “provide and maintain a navy,” and “make rules” to govern the military (and, perhaps most importantly, to fund all military operations), but Article II gives the President the “executive power,” and makes him “commander in chief” of the military, powers that virtually all presidents have interpreted to give them at least some room to use the military without express permission from Congress.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Joseph Dunford said the US “specifically identified” targets to “mitigate the risk of Russian forces being involved.” 

Gen. Dunford said the normal deconfliction line was used in the run-up to the strike to ensure clearance of airspace. 

“We used the normal deconfliction channel to deconflict airspace. We did not coordinate targets,” Dunford said.

The missiles targeting Homs were intercepted and did not cause damage, according to a reporter on Syrian state TV in Homs.

General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters tonight that this particular round of airstrikes are over.

“This wave of air strikes is over and that is why we’re out here speaking to you now,” he said.

However, defense officials made clear tonight in the Pentagon briefing that this is a sustained campaign, and strikes will officially end when the Syrian regime ceases its chemical weapons use.

Defense Secretary James Mattis said the selected targets specifically targeted the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons program.

He said that, as of now, there are no reports of losses to the United States.

General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the strikes launched at 9 p.m. ET tonight struck targets associated with the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons program.

Here are the three sites he listed:

US Defense Secretary James Mattis is speaking at the Pentagon an hour after President Trump announced the start of precision strikes on Syria.

He said that President Trump directed the US military to conduct the operations with the goal of destroying the Syrian regime chemical weapons research and development and production capability.

He added: “Clearly the Assad regime did not get the message last year. This time our allies and we have struck harder. Together we have sent a clear message to Assad and his murderous lieutenants that they should not perpetrate another chemical weapons attack for which they will be held accountable.”

Syrian state-run TV says there are reports of aggression targeting the research center in the Barzeh area of the city of Damascus

Syrian air defenses have also hit 13 missiles in Al Kiswah in the suburbs of Damascus, the state TV also reports.

Two US officials said attacks could continue beyond tonight, with a senior administration official saying “this isn’t over.”

A US official said a big concern is how much more sophisticated Russia’s capabilities are now compared to last year. The source says they are “significantly enhanced” in terms of anti-strike and anti-aircraft capabilities.

Part of the calculation this week has also been gaming out how Russia will respond either in the region or around the world.

“We are watching what Russians do in the next 24 hours,” the official said.

There will be intelligence collection to see what Russians are up to in the wake of the strikes, such as turning on their systems or talking about retaliating.

CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh reports that witnesses say they are hearing explosions in Damascus, Syria, and that they began while President Trump was still addressing the nation.

Vice President Pence called Congressional leaders minutes before the Trump announcement about Syria strikes, according to two sources.

Pence was in Lima, Peru.

Syrian State TV is reporting that Syrian Air Defense was responding to “the American, British and French aggression against Syria.”

Multiple US defense officials tell CNN that both US ships and aircrafts were used in the strikes in Syria.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May, in a statement, said that she has “authorised British armed forces to conduct co-ordinated and targeted strikes to degrade the Syrian Regime’s chemical weapons capability and deter their use.”

 Moments ago, President Trump said the UK and France were involved in the strike.

“A combined operation with the armed forces of France and the United Kingdom is now under way. We thank them both,” Trump said.

President Trump, addressing the nation tonight, spoke of an allied effort against the “barbarism and brutality.”

He said the UK and France are also involved in the “combined operation.”

“Today the nations of Britain, France, and the United States of America have marshaled their righteous power against barbarism and brutality,” he said. “Tonight I ask all Americans to say a prayer for our noble warriors and our allies as they carry out their missions.”

He continued: “We pray that God will bring comfort to those suffering in Syria. We pray that God will guide the whole region toward a future of dignity and of peace. And we pray that God will continue to watch over and bless the United States of America. Thank you and good night.”

President Trump directly addressed Russia and Iran, two countries that have supported the embattled regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

“The nations of the world can be judged by the friends they keep. No nation can succeed in the long run by promoting rogue states, brutal tyrants and murderous dictators,” Trump said.

“Russia must decide if it will continue down this dark path or if it will join with civilized nations as a force for stability and peace. Hopefully someday we’ll get along with Russia and maybe even Iran, but maybe not,” Trump said.

President Trump described the “despicable attack” in Syria as the “crimes of a monster” as he announced the start of precision retaliatory strikes.

“This massacre was a significant escalation in a pattern of chemical weapons use by that very terrible regime,” Trump said.

“The evil and the despicable attack left mothers and fathers, infants and children thrashing in pain and gasping for air. These are not the actions of a man. They are crimes of a monster instead.”

President Trump said Friday the purpose of a campaign of airstrikes in Syria is to “establish a strong deterrent against the production, spread and use of chemical weapons.”

“The combined American, British and French response to these atrocities will integrate all instruments of our national power: military, economic and diplomatic,” Trump said from the White House.

Trump indicated the strikes would continue until the Syrian regimes use of chemical weapons ends.

“We are prepared to sustain this response until the Syrian regime stops its use of prohibited chemical agents,” Trump said.

President Trump says he has ordered US forces to launch precision strikes against chemical weapons facilities of Assad in Syria.

Trump said the strikes were in coordination with France and the United Kingdom.

President Trump has been pusher for tougher options on Syria with advisers, and any disagreements that existed were apparently resolved.

A senior US official told CNN that National Security Advisor John Bolton and United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley are both supportive of the stronger campaign of strikes that Trump has been pushing.

It’s the Pentagon, and United States Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who were holding out.

This official said the resistance from military officials had upset Trump, who wanted to take quick action and feels like the options being presented don’t go far enough.

President Trump will address the nation about Syria tonight, a White House official said.

A US official says President Trump has made a final decision on Syria after a week of deliberation.

Vice President Pence in Lima, Peru left a summit event at the National Theater unexpectedly to return to hotel.

About 500 people may have been affected by a suspected chemical attack last week on Syria’s rebel-held town of Douma, according to the World Health Organization.

It remains difficult to place an exact figure on the number of people killed and wounded Saturday on the outskirts of Damascus, a development that has pushed the United States and its allies to the verge of military confrontation in Syria.

But in a statement Wednesday, WHO, citing reports from its health partners, said an estimated 500 patients seen at medical facilities exhibited symptoms consistent with exposure to toxic chemicals.

These symptoms included respiratory failure, severe irritation of mucous membranes and disruption to the central nervous system.

WHO said more than 70 people taking shelter in basements reportedly died in the attack, with 43 of those deaths related to exposure to toxic chemicals.

Two health facilities were also affected, its statement said.

The Syrian government and Russia, its key ally, have vehemently denied involvement and accused rebels in Douma of fabricating the chemical attack claims.

Read more about the attack here.