BEIRUT/WASHNGTON: Syria shrugged off a wave of pre-dawn strikes on Saturday by the United States, Britain and France against at least three chemical weapons facilities which lightened up the sky of Damascus as explosions shook the city. Branding last week’s alleged gas attack the ‘crimes of a monster’, US President Donald Trump announced the action against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in a White House address. A series of huge blasts were heard in Damascus and residents rushed to their balconies. For around 45 minutes, explosions echoed and the sound of warplanes roared over the city, as flashes flared in the distance. When dawn broke, plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the city’s north and east. In the biggest foreign military action so far against Syria’s regime, Western officials said a barrage of cruise and air-to-land missiles hit what they said were sites linked to chemical weapons development. The targets included a scientific research facility in the Damascus area, a chemical weapons storage facility west of the city of Homs and a third location near Homs that contained both a command post and a chemical weapons equipment storage facility, the US military said. Syrian state media reported only three people injured and Russia’s defence ministry said there were ‘no victims’ among Syrian civilians and military personnel. Assad, who has denied ever using chemical weapons and regularly denounces his opponents as ‘terrorists’, responded to the strikes with a defiant vow. “This aggression will only make Syria and its people more determined to keep fighting and crushing terrorism in every inch of the country,” he said in comments published by his office. Assad struck a defiant pose as a video posted online showed him strolling into his office on a sunny morning as if the previous night’s US-led strikes against his country were nothing significant. The video of Assad walking to work was posted by a Twitter account controlled by the Syrian presidency at precisely 9 am local time, sending a clear message that the regime was continuing business as usual. Crowds of Assad’s also struck a defiant pose as hundreds rallied in the centre of Damascus, waving the country’s flag and honking car horns. The targets appeared to steer well clear of any Russian personnel or equipment in Syria, where Moscow launched a military intervention in support of Assad in 2015. The Russian military said the allies had fired 103 cruise missiles but that Syrian air defence systems managed to intercept 71 of them. At a rally in central Damascus, 48-year-old Nedher Hammoud claimed to have seen missiles ‘being shot down like flies’. “Let them do what they want, kill who they want… History will record that Syria shot down missiles – and not just missiles. It shot down American arrogance.” The impromptu early morning rally saw crowds of people heading to the famed Umayyad Square to show their support for Assad, waving government flags and blaring patriotic songs. The Jaish al-Islam rebel group in control of Douma said the suspected chemical attack forced them to agree to a Russia-brokered evacuation deal, paving the way for Syria’s government to secure Eastern Ghouta. Alloush, a key member of Jaish al-Islam, said Saturday the Western strikes had not gone far enough. “Punishing the instrument of the crime while keeping the criminal – a farce,” Alloush wrote on Twitter. Syrian state media reported that internal security forces had entered Douma on Saturday and that the town would be secured within hours. Published in Daily Times, April 15th 2018.