US fires more than 50 cruise missiles into Syria

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The United States attacked a Syrian air base with roughly 60 cruise missiles in response to a chemical weapons attack it blames on President Bashar Assad Thursday evening.

At least six people were killed in the air strike, according to a televised statement by the Syrian's Armed Forces General Command. Talal Barazi, the governor of the Homs province, told The Associated Press that seven others were wounded.

A Syrian opposition monitor said the attack killed four soldiers, including a general. The head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than a dozen hangars, a fuel depot and an air defense base were damaged.

President Donald Trump said the attack on a Syrian air base was in the nation's "vital national security interest."

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"Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children," Trump said.

Tomahawk missiles were fired from two warships in the Mediterranean Sea, targeting a government-controlled air base in Syria, officials say.

U.S. officials said Syrian government aircraft killed dozens of civilians by using chlorine mixed with a nerve agent, possibly sarin, earlier this week.

Syrian state TV reported a U.S. missile attack on a number of military targets and called the attack an "aggression."

The Associated Press contributed to this report