- Emmanuel Macron launches airstrikes on Syria alongside the US and UK
- He said Syrian regime ‘crossed France’s red line’ with chemical attack in Douma
- French forces have targeted ‘chemical arsenal’ alongside Western allies
French President Emmanuel Macron said his ‘red line’ had been crossed by the Syrian regime as he launched airstrikes on the country alongside the US and UK today.
The president said he ordered his forces to target ‘the capacities of the Syrian regime to produce and use chemical weapons’.
In a statement issued shortly after huge explosions were heard in Damascus, he said: ‘We cannot tolerate the normalisation of the use of chemical weapons.’
He added ‘the facts and the responsibility of the Syrian regime are not in doubt,’ concerning the ‘deaths of dozens of men, women and children’ in what he said was a chemical weapons attack on April 7 in Douma.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the Assad regime ‘crossed a red line’ with the chemical attack in Douma. He is pictured centre with close advisers
The French President launched airstrikes alongside the UK and US in Syria today, pictured
‘The red line set by France in May 2017 has been crossed,’ he said.
‘I have ordered the French army to intervene tonight as part of the international operation in coalition with the US and Britain directed against the secret chemical arsenal of the Syrian regime,’ he said.
It came after President Donald Trump said in an address to the world that he ordered precision strikes in Syria in retaliation for Bashar al-Assad’s ‘evil and despicable’ poison gas attack that killed at least 60 people last weekend.
Speaking from the White House, the commander-in-chief of the United States said the strikes pummeled targets associated with Assad’s chemical weapons capabilities.
Meanwhile Theresa May said Britain had ‘no alternative’ to use force after the chemical weapon attack in Douma that killed up to 75 people.
Four RAF Tornados took off from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus in the early hours and struck regime facilities linked to the production and use of chemical weapons.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed they fired Storm Shadow cruise missiles at a military facility – a former missile base – some fifteen miles west of Homs.
Mr Macron said he had ‘no doubt’ the Syrian regime was responsible for the deadly use of chemicals in Douma as he confirmed the military action in Syria, pictured
The UK said its strikes were successful as Syrian state television claimed it shot down 13 missiles
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