UPDATE - NATO to convene emergency meeting on Syria

UPDATES WITH UN'S EMERGENCY SESSION

By Serife Cetin and Betul Yuruk

BRUSSELS/UNITED NATIONS (AA) - NATO will convene an emergency meeting on Syria to discuss the U.S.-led airstrikes against the Assad regime in Syria, an official from the alliance told Anadolu Agency on Saturday.

The official said NATO’s North Atlantic Council will meet at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels this afternoon.

Representatives of the U.K, France and the U.S. will inform the council about the airstrikes in Syria, the source added.

The UN Security Council will also convene an emergency session upon a call by Russia on Saturday in the wake of the U.S.-led airstrikes.

The meeting will take place at 11 a.m. local time [1500 GMT].

Earlier on Saturday, the U.S., U.K. and France launched airstrikes on the Assad regime's alleged chemical weapons facilities in the country.

On April 7, the White Helmets, a civil defense agency, accused the Assad regime of an alleged chemical attack, which it said killed 78 civilians and injured hundreds of others.