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The Russian military has claimed that the Syrian air defences, whose most modern weapon is a three-decades-old Russian-supplied anti-aircraft system, shot down 71 of 103 missiles fired by the US and its allies, the UK and France, a claim denied by the Pentagon. As further details began to emerge about the sites targeted by the US-led strikes, Col Gen Sergei Rudskoi of the Russian military said the strikes had not caused any casualties and that Syrian military facilities suffered only minor damage. It was not possible to verify the claims. The most up-to-date system that Moscow has supplied to the...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With the latest U.S. missile strikes, President Donald Trump appears to have reset America’s red line for military intervention in Syria over the use of chemical weapons. What’s unclear is where that red line now stands. The United States said its strikes were a response to President Bashar al-Assad’s chemical weapons attack on April 7 that administration officials say employed chlorine and perhaps even sarin, a more deadly nerve agent. “A large body of information indicates that the Syrian regime used chemical weapons,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told the U.N. Security Council on...

Western leaders warned Syria on Saturday that they could launch further missile strikes if chemical weapons are used again, while the pre-dawn attacks were denounced by Damascus and its backers as illegal actions that would carry repercussions. But one major worry appeared to ease: That the coordinated attacks by the United States, France and Britain late Friday could have set off a direct confrontation with Syria’s most powerful military partner, Russia. At the Pentagon, the director of the Joint Staff, Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, said the more than 100 missile strikes delivered a blow to the “heart” of Syria’s chemical...

She added though “The Constitution gives Congress the power to authorize military action. If @realDonaldTrump wants to expand American military involvement in Syria’s civil war, he must seek approval from Congress – & provide a comprehensive strategy with clear goals & a plan to achieve them.” Her comments were echoed by Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, who said “I’m deeply concerned that President Trump continues to conduct military operations without any comprehensive strategy or the necessary congressional authorization.”

Operations, situation update, Update : 11/04/2018 Read this week's update on operations. Armed Forces of French Guiana (FAG) CHIEF OF DEFENCE STAFF VISITS ARMED FORCES OF FRENCH GUIANA France's Chief of Defence Staff, General Lecointre, completed his trip to French Guiana this week. During his visit, the General visited the 9th Marine Infantry Regiment (9th RIMa) and the 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment (3rd REI), Air Base 367, and went aboard Guyanese light patrol vessel La Confiance. He also went to Saint-Elie Lake to meet sappers of the Engineers Regiment involved in Operation Harpie as they worked on dismantling primary gold-mining...

"It’s often easier, Congress has found, to just let the president do what he wants. "...It would be perfectly normal for the Trump administration to argue it doesn’t need Congress’s approval to go after Assad. It would court a fight over when and why the executive branch can get America’s military involved in operations overseas without input from Congress — but that fight has been going on for decades. "Indeed, the Obama administration made legal arguments for justifiable unilateral force that could be interpreted to validate what Trump did on Thursday night." {snip} "... By May 2016, according to a...

Russia’s proposed UN Security Council resolution envisaging a speedy and realistic investigation into Douma incident was voted down by a triple veto. US, UK and France all voted against it. However an earlier US-proposed resolution, which proposed an investigation mechanism that couldn’t possibly work and would have opened an avenue for the American use of force had to be vetoed by Russia alone. Bolivia was the only other nation to vote against it as China merely abstained. China did so albeit it had previously called for restraint and for no side to resort to force which should have naturally made...

A Russian warplane this weekend flew over a French warship at low altitude in the eastern Mediterranean, a deliberate breach of international regulations, a French naval source said on Tuesday. The weekly magazine Le Point said the Russian plane had flown over frigate Aquitaine over the weekend and was fully-armed. It also added that the Aquitaine could be used in strikes against the Assad regime. The incident comes as tensions mount between Russia and Western nations following a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria on April 7. At least 60 people were killed in the attack, according to a Syrian...

A female Islamic extremist has been caught by police in possession of a USB key that contained the identities of 2,626 intelligence officials from France’s Central Directorate of Interior Intelligence (DCRI). The woman, identified as Mina B., was already known to the country’s intelligence services and had been placed on the terror watch list known in France as the S-File, Le Point reports.

"We have proof that chemical weapons were used last week, at least chlorine, and that they were used by the regime of Bashar al-Assad," Macron said during an interview on France's TF1 television. Macron added that he was in daily contact with US President Donald Trump and that they would decide on their response "at a time of our choosing, when we judge it to be the most useful and the most effective." The French leader, who had made the use of chemical weapons in Syria a "red line", said one of his aims in Syria was to "remove the...

Pope Francis held a private audience Wednesday with a French student critically injured in 2016 defending a gay couple who were kissing in the street in the French city of Lyon. “An incredible encounter with an exceptional man… I am thinking of you all on this special day for me. I leave full of strength, courage and hope,” the 20-year-old wrote on the Facebook page of the association «Je soutiens Marin» (“I support Marin”), created by his parents and followed by nearly 200,000 people. On 11 November 2016, Marin, then a third-year university student studying law and political science, came...

US President Donald Trump has tweeted that Russia should "get ready" for missiles to be fired at its ally Syria, in response to an alleged chemical attack near Damascus on Saturday. "Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and 'smart!'" Mr Trump said in his tweet. Senior Russian figures have threatened to meet any US strikes with a response. President Bashar al-Assad's government denies mounting a chemical attack on the rebel-held town of Douma. In one his tweets on Wednesday, Mr Trump called the Syrian leader a "gas killing animal". In another, he painted a dark...

US President Donald Trump has promised a "forceful" response to the alleged chemical attack in Syria, as Western leaders consider what action to take. "We have a lot of options militarily," he told reporters. He added that a response would be decided "shortly". Mr Trump said the US was getting some "good clarity" on who was responsible for the incident in Douma on Saturday. Medical sources say dozens were killed in the alleged attack but exact numbers are impossible to verify. Mr Trump also discussed the incident with French President Emmanuel Macron late on Monday, and both leaders expressed a...

First off, by waiting to strike, the U.S. keeps Syrian air defense forces in a state of very high readiness and forces Assad to continue guessing whether the U.S. knows where his high-value assets have been relocated. At the tactical level (front line Syrian military units) and strategic level (Assad and his commanders), the U.S. approach here means significant stress and abundant fear. This matters because effective military force and strategy is largely determined by the ability of individuals to operate effectively. But if individuals are fearful and exhausted, their operability will suffer. Even if marginally, this mitigates the threat...

When the U.S. takes military action against Syrian President Bashar Assad for his chemical weapons attack last Saturday, Russia is unlikely to retaliate. Two factors underline why. First off, the Russians do not want to associate themselves with what Assad has done. Putin doesn't like the public relations aftermath he is now suffering. In turn, while Putin is employing his standard distraction-deception-threat strategy in an attempt to shield Assad from blame, his eye is on other agendas. Notably, avoiding new sanctions targeting Moscow and ensuring that the upcoming soccer World Cup — which Putin sees as critical to attract much-needed...

With all eyes on Israel’s southern front where Hamas is desperately trying to conceal the fact it has run out of military options in its never ending war against the Jewish State, Hezbollah and the pro-Assad axis seem to be gearing up for the long anticipated confrontation with the IDF. Iranian and Israeli media reported last week that the pro-Assad coalition is preparing for an offensive against Islamist rebel groups in the Kuneitra and Daraa provinces in southern Syria. The pro-Assad axis, which includes Hezbollah and other Shiite militias, has reportedly deployed tanks and heavy artillery on the Syrian Golan...

Remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron that he wanted to repair church-state ties caused uproar Tuesday, sparking charges he was tampering with France’s longstanding secular tradition. The Church and the state were for centuries virtually indistinguishable in France, but the 1789 Revolution marked the first step by republicans to exclude religion from government affairs, codified in a 1905 law separating the two. But tensions have persisted, with conservative politicians often accusing officials of denying France’s cultural heritage — as seen in efforts to install nativity scenes at town halls during Christmas. Macron, who prides himself on tackling difficult issues head-on,...

Pan-European air traffic control agency Eurocontrol on Tuesday warned airlines to exercise caution in the eastern Mediterranean due to the possible launch of air strikes into Syria in next 72 hours. Eurocontrol said that air-to-ground and/or cruise missiles could be used within that period and there was a possibility of intermittent disruption of radio navigation equipment. Russia and the United States tangled on Tuesday at the United Nations over the use of chemical weapons in Syria as Washington and its allies considered whether to strike at President Bashar al-Assad's forces over a suspected poison gas attack last weekend. "Due consideration...

US President Donald Trump’s “major decision” on Syria is contingent on the rallying of sufficient air and naval strength and allied participation. Military sources report that the only US warship immediately available for the promised US military response to Bashar Assad’s use of chemical weapons in Douma is the guided missile destroyer USS Donald Cook, which sailed from Larnaca Monday, April 9, on its way to the eastern Mediterranean. The USS Iwo Jima strike group, which visited Haifa last month, is now cruising in the Arabian Sea, days away from the scene, whereas the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group...

Later today the UN Security Council is expected to vote on a resolution that Russia will cast a "NO' vote on setting the state for military action. President Trump told reporters at the White House last evening that the United States was getting "good clarity" on who was responsible for what happened in Syria last Saturday. Trump spoke of "Syria, Russia and Iran" in connection with the incident. In February Trump spoke at a news conference with the then visiting Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. "what Russia and what Iran and what Syria have done recently is a humanitarian disgrace....