US launches more than 50 cruise missiles at Assad regime airfields over Syrian chemical attack

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US launches more than 50 cruise missiles at Assad regime airfields over Syrian chemical attack

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The US Navy has reportedly launched 59 cruise missiles at airfields controlled by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in response to a chemical attack that killed at least 80 people in the northwestern part of the country on Monday.

Tomahawk missiles were launched from two Navy warships stationed in the Mediterranean according to CNN, and NBC News.

No casualties have yet been reported but officials tell NBC News that no people were targeted. 

Missiles hit runways and military infrastructure used by Syrian and Russian forces, who the US blames for using chemical weapons in the attack on Monday.

Several prominent GOP Senators and Representatives urged strikes on Syria after evidence of chemical attacks surfaced. The strike, while not targeting troops themselves, carried a high risk of killing Syrian and Russian servicemen in collateral damage.

Russia's deputy envoy to the UN told reporters that there would be "negative consequences" for "those who initiated such doubtful and tragic enterprise" should attacks occur in Syria, as noted by NBC.

Russian and US warplanes have operated over Syria's contested airspace since Russia's entrance into the Syrian conflict in October 2015. The US became involved in the country by training and equipping vetted groups of rebels fighting against Assad as early as 2011. 

In 2014, the US and a coalition of 68 other nations joined together to destroy ISIS, a terrorist group that declared territory in the Eastern part of Syria and parts of Iraq. The US currently has a limited number of ground troops in Eastern Syria, away from the Assad regime, to support local forces in the fight against ISIS.

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This story is developing. Click here for updates.

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See Also:

• The deadly chemical attack is the latest to hit Syria in 6 years of brutal civil war — here's what happened
• Former State Department official: Here's the biggest mistake the US made with Syria
• The Pentagon is no longer going to tell the public how many troops are in Iraq and Syria

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April 6, 2017 at 01:48PM