Updated April 07, 2017 12:19:49
The United States has fired a barrage of cruise missiles into Syria in retaliation for this week's chemical weapons attack against civilians.
Follow developments live on our blog.
It was the first direct American assault on the Syrian government, and Donald Trump's most dramatic military order since becoming president.
About 60 US Tomahawk missiles, fired from warships in the Mediterranean Sea, targeted an air base in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack that American officials believe Syrian government aircraft launched with a nerve agent, possibly sarin.
The targets at the government-controlled Shayrat base, in central Syria, were an airstrip, aircraft and fuel stations, a US official said.
The base was where US officials say the Syrian military planes that dropped the chemicals had taken off.
The missiles hit early Friday morning, local time.
Speaking after news of the launch emerged, Mr Trump said he called on "all civilised nations" to seek to end the bloodshed and slaughter in Syria.
He said the US missile attack was in the nation's "vital national security interest", arguing that the United States must "prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons".
He said there was "no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons" in Tuesday's attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun.
"[Syrian President Bashar al-] Assad choked out 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 barbaric attack," Mr Trump said in Florida, where he was holding talks with China's leader Xi Jinping.
He said previous attempts at getting Mr Assad to change his behaviour had failed.
The surprise strike marked a striking reversal for Mr Trump, who warned as a candidate against the US getting pulled into the Syrian civil war, now in its seventh year.
But the President appeared moved by the photos of children killed in the chemical attack, calling it a "disgrace to humanity" that crossed "a lot of lines."
More to come.
First posted April 07, 2017 11:22:50
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