US,UK launch strikes on Syria chemical weapons sites

Washington, April 14: The US, UK and France launched strikes against targets at three sites in Syria in the early hours of Saturday morning, following a week of threats of retaliation for an alleged chemical weapons attack on civilians in the Damascus enclave of Douma.

"The nations of Britain, France, and the United States of America have marshalled their righteous power against barbarism and brutality," President Trump said in an address to the nation from the White House

"The purpose of our actions tonight is to establish a strong deterrent against the production, spread, and use of chemical weapons," he added.

The strikes were launched at 9 p.m. ET, as most of Europe and the Middle East was shrouded in darkness.

The wave of strikes is the most significant attack against President Bashar al-Assad's government by western powers in seven years of Syria's civil war.