Russia warns of striking Syria outside international resolutions, US threatens to strike again
Syria’s army said six people were killed in the early hours of Friday morning after the US fired nearly 60 Tomahawk missiles at Shayrat airbase, in retaliation for a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town that killed scores of civilians earlier this week, Al-Jazeera added.
Vladimir Safronkov, Russia’s deputy ambassador to the UN, “strongly” condemned the US for what he called a “flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression”.
“The consequences of this for regional and international stability could be extremely serious,” he told the Security Council.
Russia is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and has been bombing rebel-held areas in Syria since September 2015, Al-Jazeera explained.
For her part, US Ambassador Nikki Haley said the missile strikes were “fully justified” and warned that Washington was ready to take further military action, Al-Jazeera reported.
“The United States took a very measured step last night,” she told the council. “We are prepared to do more, but we hope it will not be necessary.” Al-Jazeera added.
Mounzer Mounzer, deputy Syrian ambassador to the UN, called the US strike a “barbaric, flagrant act of aggression” that will embolden “terrorist groups” to use chemical weapons in the future, according to Al-Jazeera.
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