Assad: Syrians 'no longer afraid of NATO' after missile attack

According to Russian lawmakers, the Syrian president has praised Soviet air defense systems, which helped Damascus repel 71 Western missiles
Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).
Sunday, 15 April 2018 20:05

Russian members of the parliament and other officials have shed light on the meeting with President Bashar Assad, which came in the wake of the joint US-UK-French missile strike on Syria.

As the Russian State Duma lawmaker Sergei Zheleznyak stated, Damascus has praised Soviet arms made in the 1970s, which were used to repel the missile attack, carried out by the US and its allies.

Another lawmaker Dmitry Sablin said on Sunday, citing Assad, that as Syrian air defenses had demonstrated their efficiency, the Arab Republic's citizens were "no longer afraid of NATO."

Assad stated that Syria would continue its independent development "despite the agenda, imposed by the West," Sablin said.

Assad did not leave the country during the US-led attack, he works in Damascus, Sablin told reporters.

"Our meeting is another confirmation that Western media is constantly lying about Syria, they wrote that Assad and his family went to Iran, leaving the country. He is in Damascus, he is working," Sablin said.

Following an overnight April 14 massive missile attack, launched by the US alongside France and the UK, the Syrian president said that the strikes came as the West realized that it had lost control of the situation in the Arab Republic. At the same time, the Syrian Foreign Ministry called the attack "brutal aggression."

While Assad was seen arriving at work on the morning after the attack, the Syrians have taken to the streets in Damascus and Aleppo in order to support the government and denounce the West's move.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, a total of 71 missiles out of 103 launched by the Western states were repelled by Syrian air defenses. The Pentagon has denied the information, saying that every missile had hit its target.