Assad Accuses US, UK, France of Supporting Militants Since Start of Syrian War

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The US, the UK and France, which hit Syria, have supported militants since the start of the country's civil war and failed to help Damascus in the anti-terror fight, Syrian President Bashar Assad said on Monday at a meeting with Senior Assistant to Iran’s Foreign Minister for Special Political Affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari.

"Those states and groups, which are their pawns in countries of the region, have been supporting terrorists since the first day of war on Syria. Their recent aggression has not succeeded in stopping the war on terrorism, which will continue until control is recovered over all Syrian lands," Assad said, as quoted by his presidential press service.

Ansari, in turn, said that this tripartite aggression was triggered by the victories of the Syrian government army and its allies against terrorists, since Western states concerned over the implications of Damascus' military success.

On April 14, the United States, the United Kingdom and France launched over 100 missiles on multiple targets in Syria in response to the alleged chemical weapons attack in Eastern Ghouta's Duma that reportedly took place on April 7. The Syrian government has denied the accusations and said that the Jaysh al-Islam terror group had staged the attack to justify potential foreign intervention in Syria.

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According to the Russian Defense Ministry, most of the Western missiles were shot down by the Syrian air defense. Damascus, which has repeatedly said it had eliminated its chemical weapons stockpiles, stated that the attack damaged Syrian infrastructure and left three civilians injured. Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the strikes had been carried out in violation of the norms and principles of international law.