U.N. meets to review joint U.S.-led air strikes against Syria

The president of the United States on Saturday morning thanked France and the United Kingdom for their participation in airstrikes on Syria, a joint operation carried out in retaliation for an alleged chemical weapons attack last weekend on a rebel-held town near Damascus, EFE News Agency reported.

Meanwhile,  the United Nations Security Council was meeting Saturday morning to analyze the situation in Syria following airstrikes carried out by the United States and its allies, diplomatic officials said. Sweden’s ambassador to the UN, Carl Skau, said Russia had called the meeting and that it was scheduled to start at 11 am.

“A perfectly executed strike last night. Thank you to France and the United Kingdom for their wisdom and the power of their fine Military. Could not have had a better result. Mission Accomplished!” Donald Trump wrote on Twitter.

“So proud of our great Military which will soon be, after the spending of billions of fully approved dollars, the finest that our Country has ever had. There won’t be anything, or anyone, even close!” the president added.

The US, UK and France launched coordinated airstrikes on Friday night against positions of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government, which has been engaged in a seven-year-old civil war against rebel groups and is backed by Russia and Shia militias.

The airstrikes were carried out in retaliation for an alleged chemical weapons attack by Syrian government forces on the then-rebel-held town of Douma, located in the Eastern Ghouta region just east of Damascus.

More than 43 people who showed “signs and symptoms consistent with exposure to toxic chemicals” died in Douma, according to the World Health Organization.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based monitoring group, said in a statement Saturday that Syrian government troops and their allies had taken-up positions inside Douma and now have complete control over the area.

Syria and Russia deny that any chemical attack occurred and say the incident was staged by foreign intelligence services so it could be used as a pretext for military action against al-Assad.

The US Defense Department said in a news release that the first airstrike targeted a scientific research center in the greater Damascus area that was being used to research, develop, produce and test chemical and biological agents.

It said a second airstrike by the US and its allies destroyed a warehouse west of the western city of Homs where al-Assad’s government was storing its main reserves of sarin gas, one of the substances used in the alleged chemical attacks.

A third airstrike targeted a storage site for chemical weapons equipment and a command post, both of which also were located near Homs.

The airstrikes were meant to deter the Syrian government from contemplating another attack, the release said, citing Defense Secretary James Mattis.

Allied forces are prepared to continue the action if al-Assad persists in using these banned weapons, it added.

SOURCE: EFE News Agency

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