U.S. launches more than 50 Tomahawks against Syrian target

Donald Trump and James Mattis.
(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The United States launched more than 50 Tomahawk cruise missiles against the al-Shayrat military airfield near Homs, Syria, on Thursday night, in response to Tuesday's chemical attack that killed dozens of people in Idlib, including several children.

There is no word on any casualties, the targets included runways and aircraft, and this appears to be a one-off strike, NBC News reports. Trump was briefed on his military options by Defense Secretary James Mattis before he had dinner Thursday night with visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.