Warplanes, Western Warship Attack Syria Chemical Weapons
VOA
US missile strikes against Syria targeting various locations in the Syrian capital, scratched the dark sky of Damascus with lightning white light, Saturday morning, April 14, 2018.
Western fighter planes and naval vessels fired missiles into three Syrian chemical weapons, a sign of the beginning of what might be a long-standing offensive against the administration of President Bashar al-Assad and his supporters.
US military officials said the attack, coordinated and involving Britain and France, began at 9 pm Eastern American time on Friday and peppered with more than 100 missiles of Syrian facilities in the capital Damascus and the city of Homs.
"Right now, this is just a one-off attack," US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told Pentagon journalists late Friday and warned that the attack might be done again.
"It will depend on Assad, if he decides to use another chemical weapon in the future," Mattis said.
The decision to strike, taken after talks between Washington, London and Paris, came after military and intelligence officials concluded Assad's government was responsible for a chemical weapons raid in Douma town on Saturday that killed more than 40 people, including women and children, children, and hundreds more