US could not attain any goals from missile strikes on Syria: Nasrallah

The secretary general of the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement says the United States and its allies, Britain and France, could not achieve any goals from the recent missile strikes on conflict-ridden Syria.

Addressing his supporters via a televised speech from the Lebanese capital city of Beirut on Sunday evening, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah stated that these assaults were meant to break the will of the Syrian nation and government forces, but instead increased their resilience and steadfastness.

“If this attack was aimed at raising the morale of armed groups, it actually frustrated them!’ the Hezbollah chief pointed out.

He further noted that Washington and its allies would repeat such a military aggression in case Syrian army forces and allied fighters from popular defense groups score victories against Takfiri militant groups.

“American soldiers are aware of the fact any ground operation in Syria would not be an easy task to undertake; and this is why they are avoiding it,” Nasrallah highlighted.

He stated that the United States, Britain and France rushed to launch missile strikes against Syria because they knew their claims of a chemical weapons attack against the city of Douma, located about 10 kilometers northeast of the capital Damascus, were groundless.

“They wanted to finish off the scenario before international chemical weapons experts could reach the alleged site,” the Hezbollah secretary general said.

Early on Saturday, the US, Britain and France carried out a string of airstrikes against Syria over a suspected chemical attack against Douma.

Washington and its allies blamed Damascus for the Douma attack, an allegation rejected by the Syrian government.  

Pentagon said in a statement that at least 58 missiles had struck Shayrat airbase in the western Syrian city of Homs. An unnamed US official said Tomahawk missiles were used in the strikes. 

The United Kingdom's Royal Air Force said four Tornado GR4s fighter jets joined the operation, while France said it had deployed Mirage and Rafale fighter jets. 

Russian General Staff spokesman General Sergei Rudskoy, however, said Syrian air defense systems had intercepted at least 71 cruise missiles fired during the US-led aggression.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow on Saturday, Rudskoy said at least 103 cruise missiles, including Tomahawks, had been fired into a number of targets in Syria.

“Russia has fully restored the air defense system of Syria, and it continues to improve it over the last six months,” he said.

Hezbollah has slammed the aerial attacks on Syria as “a flagrant violation of the country’s sovereignty.”

"The war that America is waging against Syria, against the people of the region and resistance and liberation movements, will not realize its goals," it said in a statement on Saturday.

Hezbollah also lauded Syria's air defense for downing a large number of the missiles.

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