Hundreds of Syrian students gathered today outside the United Nations headquarters in Damascus to protest last week’s US strike on a government air base.
Demonstrators waved the two-star flag of the Syrian Government and pictures of President Bashar al-Assad outside the UN’s office in the Mazzeh neighbourhood of the Syrian capital.
US warships on Friday fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at a central Syrian air base from which Washington believes government jets launched a chemical attack that killed at least 87 civilians. The Syrian government denied that it used toxic substances, saying it struck an arms depot used by terrorists and describing the US strike as foolish and irresponsible behaviour.
The US retaliatory strike marked the first time the United States has intervened directly in the Syrian war against Assad’s government.