Damascus — Hours before dawn, a string of powerful blasts jolted awake residents of the Syrian capital. Emerging onto their balconies, they watched Western strikes light up the sky over Damascus. For around 45 minutes, explosions and the sound of warplanes roared over Damascus, a stronghold of Syria’s regime, as the US, France, and Britain carried out raids on military installations nearby and in the province of Homs. "I heard the strike and woke up. I checked the internet and read: barefaced attack by America, France, and Britain," said Sawsan Abu Tableh. She and other residents described hearing a volley of fire in the morning, and seeing plumes of thick smoke emerging from the city’s north and east. "I woke up to the sound of the strike at 4.00am and checked the news," said 49-year-old Rahmeh Abu Hamra, who lives in the eastern suburb of Jarmana. At that moment, halfway around the world, US President Donald Trump was announcing the joint military strikes on Syria. Abu Hamra rushe...
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