A screenshot from the video
Early on Friday, the US Navy launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a military airbase operated by the Syrian Air Force near the city of Homs.
The launch were made by US warships stationed in the Mediterranean Sea. The missiles hit the military airfield in Ash Sha’irat 38 kilometers southeast of the city of Homs. The missiles delivered a dramatic damage to the aircraft and infrastructure, including the runway.
Breaking:we got video! Al Shaerat military airfield in #syria being bombed 58 minutes ago large ammo depot blasts,my sources near by sent it pic.twitter.com/gCz0nH0MAY
— Steven nabil (@thestevennabil) April 7, 2017
The number of casualties among Syrian military personnel and civilians is now unclear.
59 Tomahawk missiles hit Shaayrat Airbase and targeted runway, bunkers, ammo/fuel storage sites + air defence systems also reportedly hit
— Hassan Ridha (@sayed_ridha) April 7, 2017
There are no doubts that these strikes will contrinbute to operations of various terrorist groups (like ISIS and Hayat Tahrir al-Sha) in the provinces of Homs and Hama. The Ash Sha’irat airfield played an important role in providing an air suppor to Syrian troops combating terrorists on the ground.
Following the strikes, US President Donald Trump spoke from his Mar-a-Lago resort, accusing the Syrian government of using nerve gas that killed civilians in Idlib’s Khan Sheikhoun.
The Friday strikes were a “response” of the Trump administration to the alleged usage of chemical weapons by the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“A total of 59 [Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles] targeted aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, air defense systems, and radars,” Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said in an official statement, adding that “the US took extraordinary measures to avoid civilian casualties and to comply with the Law of Armed Conflict.”
The Russian state-run news agency “Sputnik” reported on this issue next way:
The United States gave an advanced warning to Russia about the Thursday evening strikes on a Syrian airfield, a Pentagon spokesperson told Sputnik.The warning was communicated through the existing deconfliction channel, the spokesperson confirmed, without giving any details of the missile attack.
Pentagon also said that United States did not target the sections of the airbase where Russian forces were believed to be present.
US President Donald Trump’s national security advisor Herbert McMaster said that the United States has gone out of its way to minimize Russian casualties during the Thursday US missile strike in Syria, but there are no guarantees.
“US took great pains to avoid Russian casualties in Syria but anytime in a military operation, there are no guarantees,” McMaster said after the missile attack.
Also, US Minister of Defense Rex Tillerson claimed that Russia had failed to carry out 2013 agreement to secure Syrian chemical weapons, saying that Moscow was either complicit or incompetent. “We sought no approval from Moscow,” Tillerson said.
Moscow didn’t use its missile defense systems deployed in Syria to oppose the US move.
Russian called for an urgent UN Security Council meeting on the issue.
Another Russian state-run media outlet ‘RT’ on the issue (source):
President Putin “regards the strikes as aggression against a sovereign nation,” his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, noting that the president believes the strikes were carried out “in violation of international law, and also under an invented pretext.”
Why did Russia not use the missile defense systems S-400 and S-300?
Yep, those systems are useless if u dont use them
That is the million dollar question here… The air defenses were in place and yet the Russians didnt activate them? Something does not make sense here!
i think you are as dumb as every Mutaa product
In english please.. Your language is disturbing..
It is just a mystery why neither Syria itself nor Russia does not use any anti-missile weapons at all. They act like sitting ducks. At least little Serbia continually tried through constant day and night attacks by 1000 NATO aircraft and all kinds of ship launched missiles, and they did shoot down and damage many many more than official NATO/U.S. admitted.
Syrian s-200 won’t work against such hellstorm of cruise missiles, and russians won’t engage directly americans, you can forget about that, it’s rule number one.
S200 would have done the job, S200,300,400 are designed not just for aircraft but missiles also. Syria did manage to get a lot of equipment of the base so one gets the impression that Russia and Syria are going to force the UN into doing what it is set up to do and if not then Russia and whatever will have a free hand to counter any aggression.
so what the hell will it take for russia to stop them?
Only if they attack russians directly they will resort to s-400 or retaliation. Remember on the attack of Deir Ezzor Obama made nothing to avoid russian casualties(which resulted in the death of some 8 russians, however this was not reported), then russians bombed CIA agents on Aleppo with Kalibr missiles.
This is a proxy war, now USA bombed SAA, so Russia is free to bomb american proxies in Idlib and Hama, let’s see what happens.
PS: 59 tomahaek to destroy only 6 unoperational old MIG-23… unimpressive… and the worst part is that 36 missiles failed to hit their targets.
Yea that is pathetic! I wonder if russia brought them down, or they malfunctioned on their own, or both possibly? Either way I hope Russia really makes US pay for this. I read conflicting reports about the attack tho, some saying the whole base was destroyed and another version like you said only minimal damage and few planes destroyed. Who to believe?
Judging by the track record I would believe Russia.
Russia needs to give Syria 6 or more Su 24m2….a quality airframe that Syrian Pilots already fly. As an attack platform…these can even load out for anti ship cruise missiles. Syria’s Mig 29s…Maybe 24 – 30 are upgraded. These also can load out with Anti ship cruise missiles. Russia openly training these Aircrafts to sortie in the Mediterranean on anti Ship strike drills…. If Syria could get within weapons release range. …even money some few Missiles get hits on the USN ships.. and rip them apart.
What would America say after Trump Ego maniac act with 2 US warships sunk? Israel and the US always get away with military show which goes global With world musing over their power.
that would be sweet revenge, but imagine the response from US, they would flatten syria, and russia would no doubt get involved. what a shitty situation we are in, all caused by fucking israel and its cohorts
Yes and Little Serbia shot down a stealth fighter! Shame on Trump. He lost me on this attack. Fuck him, and the Establishment who own him.
I wouldn’t f*ck him, better dogs down the street…..
your last words are false.
only 1 battery was succesfull, because there was a good officer with own tactic.
Baloney! Even General Short who testified before Congress in October 1999 admitted he got a special call on his direct line, during the bombing, from his own son flying an A-10 which had been hit and he had to make a crash/hard landing. NATO never acknowledged this during the war but yet it happened.
***On 21 October, Reuters reported: “His voice breaking with emotion at a Senate hearing, the U.S. Air Force general who headed NATO’s spring bombing of Serbia lashed out at France on Thursday for repeatedly vetoing proposed targets in Belgrade.” You were also quoted as saying, “This is a personal thing with me.” You explained that your son flew 40 missions in the A-10 in Kosovo and that he was hit by an SA-13, and that, “He called me that night on a secure phone and the first words were ‘Don’t tell mom’.”***
There are also photos of cruise missiles shut down and the bomber that hit the Chinese Embassy was later hit and broke up and crashed just over the border with Croatia. There were other pilots shot down and then rescued who later told details of their stories. There were also many crashed just over the border with Macedonia. A Serbian pilot also went and bombed U.S./NATO planes in Tuzla, Bosnia. He was killed but he sacrificed himself. Also, Serbian pilots attacked an Albanian airport which was being used. There was a long, long detailed list on Venik’s Aviation Page too.
its because US is not poorn& unarmed, like people of syria being Massacred by two cowards
People of Syria are massacred by Trump right now, and yes he is a coward who was afraid to go to war himself (Vietnam), he is also a dirty liar… and now he is a war criminal as well….. btw Southfront how about you actually ban this troll?
Right. Erdogan and the Saudi king should be tried for war crimes.
Russia allowed Israel to bomb Syria, they allowed Turkey to occupy parts of Syrian territory, you really think they are going to attack US ships? Not going to happen.
Yep, with this move russians can kiss goodbye for any hope of negotiations, now they need to bring their attack planes back to Syria and raise hell as they did in the 2015, now they will have to go all the way.
And tell the Turks to get out of syrian territory.
Because Russia did not want to risk war with the US? Because if Russia did chances were there would be more attacks? (damage limitation mode) Because maybe Russia’s systems are not so good as thought?
The answer is number one. No direct confrontation has been the rule since the cold war, US was not targeting russians so russians won’t engage their missiles, if they go through that path you can bet there will be a very fast escalation and soon enough they will be using nukes.
Because every time Russia and Syria does so it gives the enemy time to study response times, methods and SAM associated radio communications including signal triangulation. Those and likely the s400 won’t come into play until the commitment of Russia to defense of itself and its allies. So far The s400s are likely to be saved for protection of critically important objects only since there isn’t enough weapons units to have them protecting everywhere in Syria. Most of the air defense systems are of the s200 and s300 variants and the short range pantsir units Russia equipped some Syrian air defense personnel with. The air defense radar of rus n Syria should have been showing the tomahawks fly from their origin to target and hopefully they were studying the hawks every meter of the way.
Exactly. US doesn’t know how the S400 or 300 would perform and that airbase that was destroyed is only a temporary setback. US now is in danger of being targeted at their bases in Syria, and the Syrians do have submarines.
Probably too expensive and it would deplete their Syrian stockpiles of the missile quite quickly. They are more of an anti aircraft system, Americans can launch the cruise missiles in the hundreds.
There is a chance that the US informed Russia they were targeting terrorists, without telling them they are aimed at the SAAirbase.
That could be why all missiles were launched within 60 seconds. By the time theu began to land it was too late to intercept.
Or it could be Russia was threatened not to interfere.
Or Russia is absolutely fine with the US making a complete fool of itself. Get ready for the pics of the dead kids Trump blew up.
Contradictory as it seems, they have an ”agreement” in place.
Back in 2015 Russia Surprises U.S. With Accord on Battling ISIS [NYT] Russia announced intelligence sharing with the US which had the obvious advantage of not running into each other, I had the impression that they were on opposite sides in all this.
because do not want to do this step. you are naive, if you think, putin will order to fight with us army.
No, that would be needlessly expensive.
However, this is definitely a time for the deployment of P-800 Oniks against the attacking ship.
This again shows that the Russians don’t truly care for the Syrians. They are just in it for political reasons. This is also why they would let this happen, just so they can complain to the UN.
There won’t be direct engagement of american and russian military.
why not
They call it ‘realpolitik’, I guess they planned to use Syria as a bargaining tool (Crimea, sanctions). Russia was always ready to trade with the devil, with Napoleon, Bismarck, Hitler, Nixon, Reagan and they were always screwed by their western ‘partners’. Now it’s Trump turn to betray them .
Russia and China are rearming so playing for time is as logical as US provocations. Has trump attacked himself for massacring Yemeni children yet?
Because which action would result in less of them getting killed?
*”This again shows that the Russians don’t truly care for the Syrians.”*
Why? Because Putin didn’t give you the emotional and impulsive response that you hoped and wished for?
He is smarter than to waste anti-aircraft missiles and reveal Russia’s AA capabilities and performance in the defence of an inconsequential airbase that isn’t even the region’s main aircraft operating base. That being the Hama airport from which most sorties are launched both towards northern Hama front and southern Homs pocket.
because he does nothing, and bacause that he allowed this debbvelopment. syria will be a big, big fiasco for russia. and could not be. but now russia is on the loser side. will be very hard to chenge the situation. and i am sure, russia will do no efforts in this way.
I must say, it is some kind of “Alliance” that allows your enemies to bomb you at will when they supposedly have the means to stop them. It has been clear for a long time now that the US and Israel are supporting ISIS, surely Russia understands this.
As to the comment about not using the S400 in order not to give away its secrets, obviously a weapon is useless if you are never going to use it. Perhaps it is not as good as people claim it is. To date it has never even been used in a real combat situation.
I hope Russia is over run and they lose their Naval Port in Syria. This is their reward for cowardice and weakness. Putin has become soft. Real nationalist actually despise him in Russia.
REALLY HOPE RUSSIA AND SYRIA RETALIATE FOR THIS CRAP
It at least proves Russia doesn’t have pics of Trump getting a golden shower….
Someone else does…
US can be accused of murdering civilians in Syria and Iraq so that should be reason enough to bomb US and Turkish bases in Syria and Iraq. Problem is that the Arabs don’t stick together and form a unified front, as far as the Kurds are concerned they are nothing but traitors. They are still with the US after the US attacked their country? Just as bad as the Turks.
It’s looks like Hillary was right:Trump, you are indeed the dumbest person to become president!
Right— this was the base that had gaz bombs so the US sends 50 missiles there to destroy the whole base before the investigation teams can check out the possibility of any validity to the base having gaz Bs. More BS from Trump – He’s no F good either
NFG no fucking good lol
fuck you trump… my heart is broken
Trump’s old tweets:
“What will we get for bombing Syria besides more debt and a possible long term conflict? Obama needs Congressional approval.
If Obama attacks Syria and innocent civilians are hurt and killed, he and the U.S. will look very bad!
What I am saying is stay out of Syria!
President Obama, do not attack Syria. There is no upside and tremendous downside.
AGAIN, TO OUR VERY FOOLISH LEADER, DO NOT ATTACK SYRIA – IF YOU DO MANY VERY BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN & FROM THAT FIGHT THE U.S. GETS NOTHING!” Donald J.Trump
I saw on facebook that he deleted those tweets lol what a clown
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C574_4MUsAAkDRJ.jpg
Traitor Trump will regret this. His nationalist/patriotic base will melt like snow in hell .Soon nobody will stand up for him. He is a neocon likudnik.All his statements on friendship with Russia and fighting IS and nonintervention were lies. I dont regret my support for him during election as he was the only hope for political change. You will pay traitor ! We nationalists/patriots are done with you.I stand with Russia and Assad ! Go to hell !
he doesn’t care: cnn, the young turks they’re all happy now, graham and mccain are ecstatic
Fuck it ! i am not blackpilled.The fight will go on ! He will care when they come back at him and he has no fucking support whatsoever !
the military value of the strike is very limited. Those who hoped for a war-changing intervention got disappointed. Also, it seems that the base has been evacuated prior to the strike. Let’s see if Erdogan and his ruffians perform another chemical attack.
Here is one theory. The attacked base was the base when Russian was supposedly controling and stockpilling syrian chemical weapons based on agreement with Syrian government. The base is not so distant from Tartus and Latakia. There are russians S-300 / S-400 systems in place in Tartus and Latakia. Other then that there are russian ships with S-300 Fort near the Syrian coast. There must have been an russian personnel on the base. Russian anti air system are capable of destroying at least some of those supposedly 59 cruise missiles that were fired, if not all. These systems are here to protect russian military in Syria. Why wouldn’t they intercept those missiles?
Now, USA destroyed stockpille of Syrian chemical weapons with its cruise missiles. If there is another chemical “attack” in Syria, and Syrian chemical weapons were already destroyed, who will be to blame for the next attack?
From this point of view it is win for Trump, Russia and Syrian Government, because it will be even harder to blame any future chemical “attack” on Syria’n government, as all of its chemical weapon (previously taken to one place under international organization control) was destroyed by cruise missiles attack…
how d0 you know that no cruise missile was shot down in the first place? you got vids with exactly 59 strikes on the base? but anyway i like your reaasoning
I don’t. It is just from the informations that we know so far…
Option 2: Trump is a complete moron.
This looks like show to me.
OK, I was wrong Trump is an idiot. Nice shooting Trump! Those are some planes and guys that won’t be fighting terrorism no more.
Trump:no longer part of the solution, but part of the problem!
Double down on your idiocy and you win idiotic idiocy!
as i wrote several times: putin gave time and ground for nato, so now will lose everything. little putin …
PROOF THEIR WERE NOT CHEMICAL WEAPONS! After the USSA destroyed the munitions at the base, NO CHEMICALS WERE RELEASED AND NO ONE GOT SICK! Syria has no Chemical Weapons in all of the munitions to even load onto the planes at the air base! BREAKING NEWS! Well the USSA destroyed the munitions at the base, and no chemicals were released into the air! Their were no chemical weapons to even load on any warplanes! No one got sick near the air base! This Is Proof! Syria and Assad are innocent! Impeach Trump! He is now an equal war criminal for Zionist-Supremacist as Obama and Clinton and Bush are! http://www.dailystormer.com/
Just the day before, Taran Killam (a former star of the Saturday Night Live show) openly said that Trump was a moron who struggled to read the script at rehearsals, did not get the jokes and seemed to be powered by bluster.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4386798/Taran-Killam-says-Donald-Trump-moron-SNL-host.html
Trump must have read “Kill’em” and proved that he was a moron, indeed.