Russia's envoy to the UN has accused the US of violating international law by carrying out airstrikes on Syria. US envoy Nikki Haley said the strikes were justified and threatened further action.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Altaffer
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Russia's deputy envoy to the UN, Vladimir Safronkov, on Friday warned that the US' airstrikes on a Syrian base could have damaging consequences on regional and global stability.
"The United States attacked the territory of sovereign Syria," Safronkov said during an emergency UN Security Council meeting in New York. "We describe that attack as a flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression."
The comments come after the US launched a barrage of Tomahawk missiles on a Syrian airbase in Shayrat in the early hours of Friday morning. The White House said the attack was in retaliation to an alleged chemical strike earlier this week on the Syrian rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun that killed more than 80 people.
The United States' Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said the response was "fully justified" and warned that the US was prepared to do more but hoped that it would not come to that.
"The United States will not stand by when chemical weapons are used," Haley said. "It is in our vital national security interest to prevent the spread and use of chemical weapons."
Both the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and its allies in Moscow have denied perpetrating the attack, saying any nerve agents released must have belonged to the rebels and could have been hit by a conventional strike.
Who's fighting in the Syria conflict?
Syria's civil war erupted out of the Arab Spring protests that swept much of the Middle East and North Africa in 2011. The conflict has since drawn in multiple warring factions from around the world.
Image: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images
War with no end
Syria has been engulfed in a devastating civil war since 2011 after Syrian President Bashar Assad lost control over large parts of the country to multiple revolutionary groups. The conflict has since drawn in foreign powers and brought misery and death to Syrians.
Image: picture alliance/abaca/A. Al-Bushy
The dictator
Syria's army, officially known as the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), is loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and is fighting to restore the president's rule over the entire country. The SAA has been fighting alongside a number of pro-Assad militias such as the National Defense Force and has cooperated with military advisors from Russia and Iran, which back Assad.
Turkey, which is also part of the US-led coalition against IS, has actively supported rebels opposed to Assad. It has a tense relationship with its American allies over US cooperation with Kurdish fighters, who Ankara says are linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighting in Turkey. Turkey has launched multiple military offensives targeting Kurdish militias.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/L. Pitarakis
The eastern guardian
The Kremlin has proven to be a powerful friend to Assad. Russian air power and ground troops officially joined the fight in September 2015 after years of supplying the Syrian army. Moscow has come under fire from the international community for the high number of civilian casualties during its airstrikes. However, Russia's intervention turned the tide in war in favor of Assad.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Tass/M. Metzel
The western allies
A US-led coalition of more than 50 countries, including Germany, began targeting IS and other terrorist targets with airstrikes in late 2014. The anti-IS coalition has dealt major setbacks to the militant group. The US has more than a thousand special forces in the country backing the Syrian Democratic Forces.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/A.Brandon
The rebels
The Free Syrian Army grew out of protests against the Assad regime that eventually turned violent. Along with other non-jihadist rebel groups, it seeks the ouster of President Assad and democratic elections. After suffering a number of defeats, many of its members defected to hardline militant groups. It garnered some support from the US and Turkey, but its strength has been greatly diminished.
Image: Reuters
The resistance
Fighting between Syrian Kurds and Islamists has become its own conflict. The US-led coalition against the "Islamic State" has backed the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias. The Kurdish YPG militia is the main component of the SDF. The Kurds have had a tacit understanding with Assad.
Image: Getty Images/A. Sik
The new jihadists
"Islamic State" (IS) took advantage of regional chaos to capture vast swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014. Seeking to establish its own "caliphate," IS has become infamous for its fundamentalist brand of Islam and its mass atrocities. IS is on the brink of defeat after the US and Russia led separate military campaigns against the militant group.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo
The old jihadists
IS is not the only terrorist group that has ravaged Syria. A number of jihadist militant groups are fighting in the conflict, warring against various rebel factions and the Assad regime. One of the main jihadist factions is Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, which controls most of Idlib province and has ties with al-Qaeda.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Nusra Front on Twitter
The Persian shadow
Iran has supported Syria, its only Arab ally, for decades. Eager to maintain its ally, Tehran has provided Damascus with strategic assistance, military training and ground troops when the conflict emerged in 2011. The Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah also supports the Assad regime, fighting alongside Iranian forces and paramilitary groups in the country.
Image: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images
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Report: US investigating Russian involvement in gas attack
The Associated Press (AP) press agency reported that US military officials were probing whether Russia had participated in the alleged chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun.
A US official, speaking to AP on condition of anonymity, reported of a Russian or Syrian drone seen hovering over the site of Tuesday's attack and was seen again later as citizens scampered into a nearby hospital for treatment. The hospital was reportedly bombed shortly afterwards in what may have been a bid to cover up the attack.
The US military said it was still reviewing the evidence.
Merkel: US attack on Syria is 'understandable'
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Russia vows to bolster Syrian air defenses
Following Friday morning's attack, Russian officials promised to strengthen the Syrian army's air defenses to protect both Syrian and Russian military infrastructure.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said that a "complex of measures" designed to strengthen the Syrian army's defense capabilities would be implemented to help "protect the most sensitive Syrian infrastructure facilities."
Russia had previously supplied the Assad regime with state-of-the-art S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems.
Konashenkov also said that Russia's own air defense systems were reliably protecting its warplanes at the Hemeimeem air base in the Syrian province of Latakia, as well as on its navy outpost in Syria's Mediterranean port of Tartus.
