Unic Press UK: United States President Donald Trump said Wednesday on Twitter that air strikes against Syria are inevitable. “Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!'”, he wrote.
Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 11, 2018
Trump’s warning of imminent air strikes on Syrian soil elicited a prompt response from the Russian Federation, in which Russia accused the United States of seeking to sabotage the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) impending investigation on the alleged chemical attack in Syria.
“Smart missiles should fly towards terrorists, not [Syria’s] lawful government, which has spent several years fighting against international terrorism on its territory. Are the OPCW inspectors aware that smart missiles are about to destroy all evidence of the chemical weapons use on the ground? Or is that the actual plan – to cover up all evidence of this fabricated attack with smart missile strikes, so that international inspectors had no evidence to look for?” said the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
The Russian envoy to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin has cautioned the U.S. against an air strike on Syrian soil, saying the Russian military reserves the right to shoot down missiles and target any source of any missiles directed on Syrian soil, reports Al-Manar – a Lebanese satellite television that interviewed Zasypkin. On March 2018, the Chief of General Staff of the Russian military issued a stern warning: “if a threat to our servicemen emerges, the Russian armed forces will take retaliatory measures against both missiles and their carriers.”
About the Syrian Civil War
The crisis that metamorphosed into a Syrian civil war started in March 2011 after government forces tried to silence protesters voicing support for democracy.
Within a period of five years, this armed conflict caused the death of circa 250,000 people, almost 8 million internally displaced, and 4 million refugees, said the Amnesty International on January 2016.
It’s a convoluted, multi-sided armed conflict fought primarily between the Syrian forces under the control of the Syrian government and its allies, and various forces [state and non-state actors] opposing the Syrian government.
The Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Turkey are collaborating, providing measured support for the Syrian government, while the United States leads a coalition seemingly seeking regime change in Syria.
The war has a geopolitical angle. Also, there is a ‘sectarian’ strand, thereby pitching the country’s Sunni Muslim majority against the Shia Muslim sect. Until recently, jihad terrorist group Islamic State (IS) was in control of a part of Syrian territory.
