The governor of Syria's Homs province said Thursday night the U.S. missile strike targeting the al-Shayrat airfield served the goals of "armed terrorist groups" like the Islamic State.
"Syrian leadership and Syrian policy will not change," Talal Barazi said on state television. "This targeting was not the first and I don't believe it will be the last." Later, he spoke with Reuters and said rescue operations were still going on at the airfield two hours after nearly 60 Tomahawk missiles destroyed a runway, aircraft, and fuel pumps. "I believe — God willing — that the human casualties are not big, but there is material damage," he said. "We hope there are not many victims and martyrs." He also told Reuters the Syrian army uses the airfield as a base for operations against ISIS.
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