Trump announces 'mission accomplished' after limited US strikes on Syria
Trump announces 'mission accomplished' after limited US strikes on Syria
Donald Trump has said Saturday mornings airstrikes on chemical weapons facilities in Syria were 'highly successful', as the brief US-led military campaign against the regime winds down.
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Trump has praised US allies following the strikes [AFP]
President Donald Trump announced Saturday "mission accomplished", after a brief US-led military intervention in Syria meant to send out a message to regime forces that chemical weapons will not be tolerated.
The US, UK and France launched a series of missiles strikes on three chemical weapons sites in Homs and Damascus.
Trump said the intervention "could not have had a better result", with France earlier claiming that significant amounts of Bashar al-Assad's chemical stockpiles had been destroyed in the strikes.
This was in response to a chemical attack on the opposition town of Douma last week, which left at least 40 people dead.
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Trump praised his allies and appeared to rule out further strikes, for now.
"A perfectly executed strike last night. Thank you to France and the United Kingdom for their wisdom and the power of their fine Military," Trump tweeted.
"Could not have had a better result. Mission Accomplished!"
This echoed the phrase used by George W. Bush in 2003, following the invasion of Iraq, which soon spiralled into a bloody civil war.
US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis called the strikes a "one-time shot" and also said no further action was planned.
Syrian opposition figures have been disappointed with the strikes and warned it will not halt Assad's use of conventional weapons to kill civilians.
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