UPDATE - Assad brought on US strikes: France, Germany

UPDATES WITH MORE QUOTES FROM HOLLANDE

By Hajer M'tiri

PARIS (AA) - Syria's Bashar al-Assad bears "full responsibility" for the U.S. missile strikes on a Syrian military airbase early Friday, according to French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"A military installation of the Syrian regime used for chemical bombing was destroyed last night by American strikes [...] Assad bears full responsibility for this development," the two leaders said in a joint statement, adding that Washington had informed them in advance of the strikes.

“His continued use of chemical weapons and mass crimes cannot go unpunished. This is what France had asked for in the summer of 2013 the day after the chemical attack of the Ghouta," the statement added, referring to a deadly August 2013 regime attack in Ghouta, eastern Damascus, which killed more than 1,400 civilians, according to local and international human rights groups.

Hollande and Merkel urged "the international community to come together for a political transition in Syria, in accordance with Resolution 2254 of the Security Council and the Geneva communique."

The U.S. fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian military air base American officials believe was used to carry out a deadly chemical attack Tuesday, the Pentagon confirmed.

The missiles were fired from two U.S. destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean and hit the air base at approximately 3.45 a.m. Syrian local time Friday (0045GMT).

Aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, air defense systems, and radars were targeted, the Pentagon said.

Later, speaking to reporters during his visit to Annonay in southern France, Hollande said: “I believe this operation was a response which must now be followed up at an international level within the United Nations if possible, so we can get to the bottom of sanctions against Bashar al-Assad and stop him, and this regime from using chemical weapons again on his own people.”

He also spoke about the possible political transition in Syria. “Today, because of this drama, because of this situation there is also a possibility to open negotiations and to allow for a political transition in Syria. This is why France is going to, with its partners, notably European, and I will meet with Chancellor Merkel shortly, take every initiative so we can re-launch the process of political transition in Syria."

The U.S strikes were billed as a response to a recent chemical attack in Syria.

On Tuesday, more than 100 civilians were reportedly killed and 500 others -- mostly children -- were injured in the attack allegedly carried out by the Bashar al-Assad regime warplanes in the town of Khan Shaykhun, Idlib province, according to Syrian opposition government's Health Minister Firas Jundi.

The Syrian regime, for its part, denied allegations it targeted the area with chemical weapons.

Last year, a UN-appointed investigation panel found that chemical weapons were mainly used by regime forces in 2014 and 2015. No punitive measures were taken, however.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which erupted as part of the Arab Spring uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, more than a quarter-million people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced across the war-battered country, according to the UN.

The Syrian Center for Policy Research, however, put the death toll from the six-year conflict at more than 470,000 people.