DAMASCUS (AFP) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Western strikes on government military installations on Saturday (April 14) only made him more keen to fight back against his opponents, in comments published by his office.

"This aggression will only make Syria and its people more determined to keep fighting and crushing terrorism in every inch of the country," Mr Assad, in his first reaction to the strikes, told his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani.

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