US launches missile strikes in response to chemical 'attack: Russia condemns the move

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“With this move, Washington gives a blow to US-Russian relations, which have already worsened,” said Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dimitri Peskov. On Friday morning, the US has carried out a missile attack against an air base in Syria in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town, BBC reports. Fifty-nine Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from two US Navy ships in the Mediterranean, the Pentagon said. President Donald Trump said they hit a base from which the Syrian government launched Tuesday's chemical attack. Trump said he had acted in America's "vital national security interest" to prevent the use of chemical weapon The Kremlin, which backs the Syria government, has condemned the US strike. Dmitry Peskov called it "an act of aggression against a sovereign nation". The Pentagon said the Russian military, which supports Syrian government forces, had been informed ahead of the US action. In a statement it said missiles fired from Navy destroyers USS Porter and USS Ross had targeted aircraft, aircraft shelters, storage areas, ammunition supply bunkers, air defence systems, and radars at Shayrat airfield in western Homs province. The Pentagon added that the strike was intended "to deter the regime from using chemical weapons again". It did not give details of damage or casualties but the governor of Homs province said there had been deaths and parts of the base were on fire. At least 80 people were killed in a suspected chemical attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in north-western Syria on April 4. Hundreds suffered symptoms consistent with reaction to a nerve agent after what the opposition and Western powers said was a Syrian government air strike on the area on Tuesday morning. The Syrian military denied using any chemical agents, while its ally Russia said an air strike hit a rebel depot full of chemical munitions.