Pentagon: US, allies launched 105 missiles in Syria, 'successfully' hit all three target
White House: Use of chemical weapons will not be tolerated
“I think we dealt them a severe blow,” Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the Pentagon after the overnight bombing. “We’ve attacked the heart of the Syrians’ chemical weapons
program.”
McKenzie identified the targets as Barzah Research and Development, the Him Shinshar Chemical Weapons Storage Site and the Him Shinshar Bunker Facility. He also said a total 105 missiles were launched by air and sea, all hitting their targets within minutes.
The strikes, in Douma, near Damascus, were launched in response to evidence that the Assad regime killed civilians in an April 7 chemical attack, the latest in country’s years-long civil war.
President Trump on Saturday hailed the strikes and thanked U.S. allies for joining in the campaign.
"A perfectly executed strike last night,” he tweeted. “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!"
ISI Image Sat International shared satellite images with Fox News, showing the Barzah Research and Development Center before and after the airstrikes. The "before" photo on the left is from August 2013, while the "after" photo on the right was taken Saturday. The images reveal crushing damage to structures at the target site.
The image on the left was taken in August 2013, while the right was taken Saturday. (ISI ImageSat International)
McKenzie, a Marine Corps general, said he has no reports of civilian casualties following the U.S.-led strikes and that the attacks overnight Friday were launched from U.S., France and United Kingdom aircraft and ships, including those in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea and eastern Mediterranean Sea.
And he suggested that Syria still likely has some capability to make chemical weapons, despite the success of the attack.
“I would say there's still a residual element,” he said. “I'm not going to say they'll be unable to conduct a chemical attack in the future. I suspect, however, they'll think long and hard about it based on the activities of last night.”
Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said: “It’s intolerable for a civilized nation to use chemical weapons. … This is a regime that murders its people daily.”
White also said the United States is “very confident” that the Assad regime was behind the chemical weapons attack on civilians.
Pentagon officials said the allied forces’ attack was met with no resistance.
"I think the mission was a few things," Heather Nauert, acting under secretary of state for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, on Saturday told Fox News' "America's News HQ." "One, to show the world that the use of chemical weapons and the killing of innocent civilians will not be tolerated.
"The United States has taken all of diplomatic efforts, for many months now, for many years as a matter of fact. President Trump has lead the way on that. We have tried at the United Nations. We have tried at the European Union. We have had many conversations with our allies and partners around the world to bring this horrendous plight to the attention of the world."
The guided-missile cruisier USS Monterey fired 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the Red Sea. Nearby, the guided-missile destroyer Laboon fired another seven.
In the Persian Gulf, another destroyer, USS Higgins, fired launched 23.
In the Mediterranean, U.S. Navy submarine the John Warner launched six missiles.
Last year the United States alone launched a missile attack on the regime over its use of chemical weapons. This time the allied effort included a French frigate launching missiles and French and British fighter jets. 
A pair of US Air Force B-1 bombers flying from Qatar under fighter escort launched 19 stand-off missiles.
The Russians and Syrians claimed they shot down dozens of these missiles, but the Pentagon says the Russian guns remained silent during the attack.
Syria fired roughly 40 missiles wildly into the air, after the U.S. and allied missiles had already landed, McKenzie said.
“The Syrian response was remarkably ineffective in all domains,” the general also said. “That's probably the best answer I can give you. So they had no material impact on the strike.”
The Russian disinformation campaign continues. White said there has been a 2,000 increase in Russian trolls on the internet, telling a different story than what reporters just heard at the Pentagon.
“I think we dealt them a severe blow,” Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the Pentagon after the overnight bombing. “We’ve attacked the heart of the Syrians’ chemical weapons program.”
program.”
McKenzie identified the targets as Barzah Research and Development, the Him Shinshar Chemical Weapons Storage Site and the Him Shinshar Bunker Facility. He also said a total 105 missiles were launched by air and sea, all hitting their targets within minutes.
The strikes, in Douma, near Damascus, were launched in response to evidence that the Assad regime killed civilians in an April 7 chemical attack, the latest in country’s years-long civil war.
President Trump on Saturday hailed the strikes and thanked U.S. allies for joining in the campaign.
"A perfectly executed strike last night,” he tweeted. “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!"
ISI Image Sat International shared satellite images with Fox News, showing the Barzah Research and Development Center before and after the airstrikes. The "before" photo on the left is from August 2013, while the "after" photo on the right was taken Saturday. The images reveal crushing damage to structures at the target site.
The image on the left was taken in August 2013, while the right was taken Saturday. (ISI ImageSat International)
McKenzie, a Marine Corps general, said he has no reports of civilian casualties following the U.S.-led strikes and that the attacks overnight Friday were launched from U.S., France and United Kingdom aircraft and ships, including those in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea and eastern Mediterranean Sea.
And he suggested that Syria still likely has some capability to make chemical weapons, despite the success of the attack.
“I would say there's still a residual element,” he said. “I'm not going to say they'll be unable to conduct a chemical attack in the future. I suspect, however, they'll think long and hard about it based on the activities of last night.”
Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said: “It’s intolerable for a civilized nation to use chemical weapons. … This is a regime that murders its people daily.”
White also said the United States is “very confident” that the Assad regime was behind the chemical weapons attack on civilians.
Pentagon officials said the allied forces’ attack was met with no resistance.
"I think the mission was a few things," Heather Nauert, acting under secretary of state for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, on Saturday told Fox News' "America's News HQ." "One, to show the world that the use of chemical weapons and the killing of innocent civilians will not be tolerated.
"The United States has taken all of diplomatic efforts, for many months now, for many years as a matter of fact. President Trump has lead the way on that. We have tried at the United Nations. We have tried at the European Union. We have had many conversations with our allies and partners around the world to bring this horrendous plight to the attention of the world."
The guided-missile cruisier USS Monterey fired 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the Red Sea. Nearby, the guided-missile destroyer Laboon fired another seven.
In the Persian Gulf, another destroyer, USS Higgins, fired launched 23.
In the Mediterranean, U.S. Navy submarine the John Warner launched six missiles.
Last year the United States alone launched a missile attack on the regime over its use of chemical weapons. This time the allied effort included a French frigate launching missiles and French and British fighter jets.
A pair of US Air Force B-1 bombers flying from Qatar under fighter escort launched 19 stand-off missiles.
The Russians and Syrians claimed they shot down dozens of these missiles, but the Pentagon says the Russian guns remained silent during the attack.
Syria fired roughly 40 missiles wildly into the air, after the U.S. and allied missiles had already landed, McKenzie said.
“The Syrian response was remarkably ineffective in all domains,” the general also said. “That's probably the best answer I can give you. So they had no material impact on the strike.”
The Russian disinformation campaign continues. White said there has been a 2,000 increase in Russian trolls on the internet, telling a different story than what reporters just heard at the Pentagon.
Fox News Pentagon correspondent Lucas Tomlinson and Yonat Friling contributed to this report.
Fox News Pentagon correspondent Lucas Tomlinson and Yonat Friling contributed to this report.
Ataque a Siria: reacciones y últimas noticias en vivo y en directo
Los inspectores siguen sin poder entrar en Duma para analizar si hubo ataque químico
MÁS INFORMACIÓN
La investigación sobre el terreno del supuesto ataque químico sobre la localidad de Duma está en punto muerto. Los inspectores de la Organización para la Prohibición de las Armas Químicas (OPAQ) desplazados a Siria para recabar pruebas sobre el supuesto ataque con gases tóxicos -en el que fallecieron al menos 40 personas- no han podido empezar a trabajar y ayer mismo fueron blanco de disparos. La ONU está negociando con las autoridades sirias y rusas para permitir que estos expertos puedan analizar "cuanto antes" la zona. Mientras, las evaluaciones de Washington tras el bombardeo en Siria de Estados Unidos, Francia y Reino Unido en Siria muestran que tuvieron un impacto limitado en la capacidad del presidente sirio, Bachar el Asad, para llevar a cabo ataques con armas químicas, según informa la agencia Reuters.
El Departamento de Defensa de Estados Unidos ha asegurado este jueves que los bombardeos llevados a cabo el sábado contra Siria "no causaron víctimas civiles". "Nuestros ataques del viernes (sábado en España) fueron exitosos a la hora de degradar las instalaciones de investigación y almacenamiento de armas químicas de Siria sin una sóla víctima civil", ha dicho la portavoz del Pentágono Dana White.
White ha apuntado a una "campaña de desinformación" por parte de Rusia "al afirmar falsamente que los sistemas de defensa aérea derribaron un número importante de misiles". "De hecho, todos los misiles alcanzaron sus objetivos", ha recalcado.
Rusia afirmó el jueves haber hallado cilindros que contienen cloro procedentes de Alemania, y "fumígenos" británicos en Guta Oriental, un ex enclave rebelde en Siria reconquistado por el régimen y escenario de un presunto ataque químico en abril. "Las fuerzas sirias descubrieron en los territorios liberados de Guta Oriental contenedores con cloro de Alemania (...) y fumígenos producidos en la ciudad de Salisbury en Inglaterra", declaró la portavoz del ministerio de Exteriores, Maria Zajarova, citada por la agencia TASS.
En la imagen, un grupo de policías sirios patrulla por la ciudad de Duma el pasado lunes. La Organización para la Prohibición de Armas Químicas (OPAQ) tenía previsto entrar en este territorio de la periferia de Damasco el miércoles, pero el director general del organismo confirmo el aplazamiento de la misión de los inspectores de armas químicas tras el ataque a un equipo de seguridad de Naciones Unidas en una visita previa de reconocimiento.
En esta foto, publicada por la agencia de noticias oficial siria SANA, los soldados rusos y las fuerzas del Gobierno sirio supervisan la evacuación de los combatientes rebeldes del Ejército del Islamy sus familias de la ciudad de Dumayr, al noreste de Damasco, Siria, este jueves. Los medios estatales sirios afirman que cientos de combatientes rebeldes en Dumayr entregaron sus armas y comenzaron a abandonar el área bajo un acuerdo de evacuación que los traslada a las áreas controladas por la oposición en el norte, entregando efectivamente su territorio a las fuerzas gubernamentales
.
Tonight, at the order of @POTUS, U.S. Armed Forces, with Britain and France, launched strikes against chemical weapon sites in Syria. America and our allies will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons against men, women and children. God bless our courageous troops & allies.
Syria air strikes: Emmanuel Macron says Bashar al-Assad crossed ‘red line’ with attack on citizens
'The facts and the responsibility of the Syrian regime are beyond doubt'
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