The United States on Friday launched a massive military strike on a Syrian air base in retaliation for a "barbaric" chemical attack on civilians as President Donald Trump appealed to all "civilised nations" to join America to end the "bloodshed" in the war-torn country. On President Trump's orders, US warships launched between 50-60 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian government airbase where the warplanes that carried out the chemical attacks were based, US officials said.
Speaking inside his Mar-a-Lago resort where he met Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump said he ordered targeted missile strikes at a Syrian airfield from where the chemical attack was launched." Describing the chemical attack on innocent civilians as "horrible", Trump said President Bashar al-Assad took the lives of helpless men, women and children "It was a slow and brutal death for so many. Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack. No child of God should ever suffer such horror," he said.
"It is in vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter use of deadly chemical weapons," Trump told a pool of reporters. There can be no dispute that Syria used the banned chemical weapon violated its obligations under the chemicals weapons convention and ignored the urging of the UN Security Council," he said. "Years of previous attempts at changing Assad's behaviour have all failed and failed very dramatically. As a result the refugee crisis continue to deepen and the region continues to destabilise threatening the US and its allies. I call on al civilised nations to join us seeking to end this slaughter and bloodshed in Syria and also to end terrorism of all kinds and types," he said.