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U.S. launches cruise missile strike on Syrian airfield near Homes
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By Carlo Muñoz and Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times - Thursday, April 6, 2017
American warships stationed off the Syrian coastline fired a salvo of cruise missiles against a Syrian military base in the western part of the country, days after a regime chemical strike left nearly 100 civilians wounded or dead.
59 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired as part of the attack early Friday morning, U.S. officials said. The strikes were centered on the al Shayrat airfield near the western Syrian city of Homs, located in the Alawite-dominated region of the country.
The Arleigh-Burke class destroyers U.S.S. Porter and U.S.S. Ross launched the attacks from locations in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis said Thursday night. "As always, the U.S. took extraordinary measures to avoid civilian casualties," he said in a statement. "Every precaution was taken to execute this strike with minimal risk to personnel at the airfield."
Initial damage assessments show Syrian aircraft and support facilities at the airfield had been destroyed, "reducing the Syrian Government's ability to deliver chemical weapons," Capt. Davis said.
The airfield was one of the locations suspected of housing portions of the chemical weapons stockpiles used during Tuesday's attack near Idlib province, a known stronghold for rebel forces battling to overthrow President Bashar Assad.
"The U.S. intelligence community assesses that aircraft from Shayrat [airfield] conducted the chemical weapons attack on April 4," Capt. Davis said. "The strike was intended to deter the regime from using chemical weapons again."
Prior to the chemical attack in Idlib, Syrian forces were required to dismantle all chemical weapons stockpiles as part of Russian-brokered peace deal between Washington and Damascus in 2014. The Assad regime has used chemical weapons against rebel forces three times, including Tuesday's strike, since the 2014 deal.
American commanders warned their Russian counterparts of the impending strike near Homs, which is just over 100 miles south of Latakia, Moscow's main military hub in the country, according to the Pentagon. "U.S. military planners took precautions to minimize risk to Russian or Syrian personnel located at the airfield," Capt. Davis said.
U.S. and Russian commanders have kept close communications since Moscow began its Syrian operations in support of the Assad regime in earnest. Moscow and Washington say the communications were strictly designed to ensure American and Russian air assets do not interfere with each other's operations.
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Syria airstrikes: International community reacts to US bombing of airfield
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President Trump's swift and telegraphed action to punish Syria for a suspected chemical weapons attack earlier this week, by pummeling a key air base with missiles, was roundly praised by leaders around the world.
Trump, who authorized the launch of 59 Tomahawk missiles from Navy warships in the Mediterranean Sea on an air base near Homs at 3:45 a.m local time, had said his thnking on Syria had changed following Tuesday's chemical attack that left scores of civilians dead.
Although Russia and Syrian state television blasted the move as "aggression," leaders from around the world solemnly praised the act as a measured and fair response to dictator Bashar al-Assad's suspected use of chemical weapons in the town of Idlib on Tuesday.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that "In both word and action" Trump "sent a strong and clear message" that "the use and spread of chemical weapons will not be tolerated."
sraeli President Reuven Rivlin praised the U.S. for its airstrike aimed at an airbase called Shayrat. He called on the world to bring an end to the atrocities committed by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
SYRIA AIRSTRIKES: TRUMP SAYS MILITARY ACTION IN 'VITAL NATIONAL SECURITY INTEREST'
"In the face of the terrible use of chemical weapons against innocent civilians, the clear and determined steps of the US Administration and Military under the leadership of President Trump, constitute a fitting and appropriate response to such unthinkable brutality," Rivlin said.
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed support for the U.S. missile attack on Friday saying that the country understood and supported the strategy. Abe added that the strikes were "a means to prevent further deterioration of the situation" referring to the suspected chemical attack.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters that the Australian government supported the "swift and just response" of the U.S. airstrikes.
"This was a calibrated, proportionate and targeted response. It sends a strong message to the Assad regime, and ... has been struck at the very airfield from which the chemical attack was delivered," Turnbull said.
Turkey welcomed the airstrike, calling it an "important and meaningful" development, but urged the world to take an even tougher stance on Assad.
"We see the (airstrikes) as positive, but we believe that this should be completed," Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said. "The Assad regime's barbarism must immediately be stopped."
The attack was criticized by the Syrian government, as well as Russia and Iran, which back Damascus in the grinding, seven-year civil war that has ravaged the nation.
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Nikki Haley After Syrian Gas Attack: How Many Children 'Have to Die Before Russia Cares?
Nikki Haley, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, ripped into Russia during a U.N. Security Council meeting Wednesday for what she deemed an inept response to a suspected gas attack in Syria.
As Russian and Syrian officials looked on, Haley accused Moscow of being complicit by choosing to "close their eyes to this barbarity." She launched into a harsh rebuke by holding up photos of victims of Tuesday's slaughter, in which activists say about 100 people, including 25 children, were killed and another 400 were injured.
"How many more children have to die before Russia cares?" Haley asked. "The U.S. sees yesterday's attack as a disgrace at the highest level - an assurance that humanity means nothing to the Syrian government."
Images and videos from Syria's Idlib province appear to show victims convulsing, others lifeless after a gruesome attack in a rebel-held area - the latest atrocity to afflict Syria since its civil war began six years ago between the government of President Bashar al-Assad and rebel fighters.
Russia, which remains a key ally of Assad, said it believes a Syrian government airstrike smashed a rebel workshop in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, and that caused a cache of chemical weapons to leak.
A local activist who recorded the incident on video said it appeared two planes were involved in the strike - Syrian and Russian.
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Statement from Pentagon Spokesman on U.S. Strike in Syria
by DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE April 7, 2017
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- At the direction of the president, U.S. forces conducted a cruise missile strike against a Syrian Air Force airfield today at about 8:40 p.m. EDT (4:40 a.m., April 7, in Syria).
The strike targeted Shayrat Airfield in Homs governorate, and were in response to the Syrian government's chemical weapons attack April 4 in Khan Sheikhoun, which killed and injured hundreds of innocent Syrian people, including women and children.
The strike was conducted using Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs) launched from the destroyers USS Porter and USS Ross in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. A total of 59 TLAMs targeted aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, air defense systems, and radars. As always, the U.S. took extraordinary measures to avoid civilian casualties and to comply with the Law of Armed Conflict. Every precaution was taken to execute this strike with minimal risk to personnel at the airfield.
The strike was a proportional response to Assad's heinous act. Shayrat Airfield was used to store chemical weapons and Syrian air forces. The U.S. intelligence community assesses that aircraft from Shayrat conducted the chemical weapons attack on April 4. The strike was intended to deter the regime from using chemical weapons again.
Russian forces were notified in advance of the strike using the established deconfliction line. U.S. military planners took precautions to minimize risk to Russian or Syrian personnel located at the airfield.
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