Egypt's human rights council: US-led strikes aggression against Syrian people

CAIRO - 14 April 2018: The National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) condemned the U.S.-led strike against military sites of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, considering it an aggression against the Syrian people.

“The National Council for Human Rights considers the U.S., French and British strikes on Syria an aggression against the peaceful Syrian people, and a serious violation of international conventions and agreements,” the NCHR said in official statement on Saturday, hours later the U.S.-led strikes.

The state-owned council said the strikes were carried out by three countries away from the international legitimacy without an impartial, transparent international investigation over the alleged chemical attack on Syria’s Douma on April 7.

“The NCHR strongly stands against any usage of illegal weapons, and condemns using unjust accusations as an excuse for illegal and unjustified aggression,” the statement concluded.

The Pentagon said on Saturday that U.S. strikes in Syria overnight had successfully hit every target and were aimed to deliver an unambiguous signal to the Syrian government and deter the future use of chemical weapons.

The strikes significantly crippled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's ability to produce chemical weapons, officials told reporters at a briefing, and the Pentagon was not aware of any civilian casualties resulting from the strikes.

Lieutenant General Kenneth F. McKenzie said the strikes were precise, overwhelming and effective.

Though some of Syria's chemical weapons infrastructure was still left, "I think we've dealt them a severe blow," McKenzie said, adding it would set the program back for years.

Despite severely damaging the infrastructure with the strikes, McKenzie said the Pentagon would not rule out that the Assad government still had capability to use such weapons again.

"I would say there's still a residual element of the Syrian program that's out there," he said. "I'm not going to say that they're going to be unable to continue to conduct a chemical attack in the future. I suspect, however, they'll think long and hard about it."