'Get ready Russia'
US President Donald Trump yesterday warned Russia of imminent military action in Syria over a suspected poison gas attack, declaring that missiles "will be coming" and lambasting Moscow for standing by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Trump was reacting to a warning from Russia on Tuesday that any US missiles fired at Syria over the deadly assault on a rebel enclave would be shot down and the launch sites targeted.
His comments raised fears of direct conflict over Syria for the first time between the two world powers backing opposing sides in the country's protracted civil war, which has aggravated instability across the Middle East.
"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!'," Trump wrote in a post on Twitter.
"You shouldn't be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!" Trump tweeted, referring to Moscow's alliance with Assad.
Trump in another tweet said US-Russian relations are "worse now" than ever, "and that includes the Cold War," reported AFP.
Russia has meanwhile taken to stronger and stronger warnings.
"We would hope that all sides will avoid steps that in reality are not provoked by anything and that could destabilise the already fragile situation in the region," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
"The situation is tense," Peskov said, adding that Russia is calling for an "unprejudiced and objective investigation before making judgements" on the suspected use of chemical weapons.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a Facebook post that "smart missiles should fly towards terrorists, not towards the lawful government".
Russia yesterday accused the White Helmets civil defence organisation of staging a chemical weapons attack in Syria's Douma that has escalated the tension.
"Acting purely as a terrorist organisation, the odious 'White Helmets' once again staged for the cameras a 'chemical attack' on the civilians of Douma," Lieutenant-General Viktor Poznikhir said at a briefing in Moscow.
After Trump's tweet, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights - a British-based war monitor with a network of sources on the ground - reported that pro-government forces were emptying main airports and military air bases.
The Syrian foreign ministry accused the United States, which has supported some rebel groups in Syria's conflict, of using "fabrications and lies" as an excuse to hit its territory.
After the Douma attack, the insurgent group dug in there, Jaish al-Islam, finally agreed to withdraw. That clinched a huge victory for Assad, crushing a long rebellion in the eastern Ghouta region near the capital Damascus.
White House officials did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for more detail about Trump's remarks. The US Defense Department said it "does not comment on potential future military actions".
Trump's decision to disclose his decision to strike as well as the kind of weaponry to be used in a future military operation is likely to frustrate military planners, who hold such information closely.
Trump had repeatedly said he would not telegraph military moves against foes such as North Korea and Islamic State. On Monday he said he would decide within 48 hours on a forceful answer to the attack in Syria, later telling reporters: "When, I will not say, because I don't like talking about timing."
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization said that 43 people had died in Saturday's attack on Douma from "symptoms consistent with exposure to highly toxic chemicals", and more than 500 in all had been treated.
The WHO cautioned that it has no formal role in forensic inquiries into the use of chemical weapons. International inspectors are seeking clearance from Damascus to visit Douma under safe conditions to determine whether globally banned munitions were used, though they will not assign blame.
Moscow's own threat to down US missiles came from its ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Zasypkin, who said it was based on previous statements by President Vladimir Putin and the Russian armed forces chief of staff.
Zasypkin also said that any hostilities with Washington should be avoided and Moscow was ready for negotiations.
Oil prices jumped to their highest level in more than three years yesterday after Trump's missile warning, and US stock index futures fell sharply amid alarm over possible Russian-US conflict over Syria.
The Kremlin earlier said it hoped all sides involved in Syria would avoid doing anything to destabilise an already volatile situation in the Middle East.
Moscow and Washington stymied attempts by each other at the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday to set up international investigations into chemical weapons attacks in Syria.
Trump cancelled on Tuesday a planned trip to Latin America later this week to focus instead on talks with Western allies about possible military action to punish Assad.
The Russian military said on March 13 that it would respond to any US strike on Syria by targeting any missiles and launchers involved. Russia is Assad's most powerful ally and its devastating air power has helped him wrest back large areas of territory from rebels since 2015.
Any US strike is likely to involve the navy, given the risk to aircraft from Russian and Syrian air defence systems. A US Navy guided-missile destroyer, the USS Donald Cook, is in the Mediterranean.
Last year, the United States carried out strikes from two Navy destroyers against a Syrian air base after another toxic gas attack on a rebel-controlled pocket.
With tensions growing, pan-European air traffic control agency Eurocontrol warned airlines to exercise caution in the eastern Mediterranean due to the possible launch of air strikes into Syria over the next 72 hours.
The conflict has the scope to spread regionally.
Ali Akbar Velayati, the top adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said during a visit to Damascus on Tuesday that an Israeli attack on an air base in Syria earlier this week would "not remain without response".
Israel held top-level security consultations yesterday amid concern it could be targeted by Syria or Iran if the United States strikes Syrian government forces.
France and Britain discussed with the Trump administration how to respond to the Douma attack, and both stressed that the culprit still needed to be confirmed.
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