Assad brought on US strikes: France, Germany

By Hajer M'tiri

PARIS (AA) - Syrian regime leader Bashar al-Assad bears "full responsibility" for the U.S. missile strikes on a Syrian military airbase early Friday, according to French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"A military installation of the Syrian regime used for chemical bombing was destroyed last night by American strikes [...] Assad bears full responsibility for this development," the two leaders said in a joint statement, adding that Washington had informed them in advance of the strikes.

“His continued use of chemical weapons and mass crimes cannot go unpunished. This is what France had asked for in the summer of 2013 the day after the chemical attack of the Ghouta," the statement added, referring to a deadly August 2013 regime attack in Ghouta, eastern Damascus, which killed more than 1,400 civilians, according to local and international human rights groups.

The U.S. strikes came in retaliation for a chemical attack Tuesday in northwestern Syria that killed more than 100 civilians and injured around 500 others.

Hollande and Merkel urged "the international community to come together for a political transition in Syria, in accordance with Resolution 2254 of the Security Council and the Geneva communique."

The missiles were fired from two U.S. destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean and hit the Shayrat Airbase at approximately 3:45 a.m. Syrian local time Friday (0045GMT). Aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, air defense systems, and radars were targeted, the Pentagon said.