US missiles fired at Syrian airbase in retaliation to latest chemical attack

CAIRO—7 April: The U.S. military fired dozens of cruise missiles at a Syrian airbase on Friday, following a deadly chemical weapon attack launched last week by the Syrian regime, reports

Reuters

.

A total of 59 missiles were launched from the eastern Mediterranean Sea targeting the Al-Shaerat military airport in Syria’s city of Homs, which is controlled by forces of President Bashar al-Assad and is home to a large number of Russian and Iranian forces.

The attack left six people dead and caused “big material losses,” Reuters reports, quoting a statement by the Syrian army that accused the U.S. of “blatant aggression” against the airbase.

The strike is considered an escalation in U.S. policy toward the Syrian crisis, after President Donald Trump made it clear that his administration’s focus was not to remove Assad from power.

Trump

described

the recent poisonous gas attack, which left more than 80 dead, as “horrible” and said that “something should happen.”

The U.S. attack has been criticized by Russia, which called for a UN Security Council meeting on the U.S. strikes in Syria, according to AFP news agency.

The Kremlin

labeled

the strikes “an aggression” and warned that they were a “significant blow to Russian-American relations.”

On Friday a number of countries including Australia, Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand and Japan expressed support for the U.S. strike and offered strong backing for this morning’s missile attack.