Syria says US strikes at its airbase caused deaths

By Adham Kako

ANKARA (AA) - The U.S. missile attacks at a military airbase in central Syria caused several deaths, Syria’s state-run SANA news agency reported Friday.

“One of our airbases in central Syria has been attacked by America before sunrise. The attack caused deaths,” SANA said, citing Syrian military sources.

The U.S. on Thursday fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at Shayrat Airfield in Syria, which American officials believe was used to carry out a deadly chemical attack.

The chemical attack on Tuesday killed more than 100 civilians and injured around 500 others in the northwestern province of Idlib.

It attracted widespread international condemnation and calls for the Assad regime to be held accountable.

In an emergency meeting after Tuesday’s attack, the UN Security Council failed to vote on a resolution drafted by the U.S., Britain, and France after Russia, a permanent council member, objected to its wording as a "provocation", and called its authors "irresponsible".

In a statement Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump said there is no dispute Assad's forces used banned chemical weapons and urged international action to cease the bloodshed and "terrorism of all kinds and all types”.