LIVE: US pounds Syrian airbase after chemical attack

Syrians living inside Syria have reacted to news of American airstrikes against Bashar al-Assad's forces with optimism and despair. 

Speaking to Middle East Eye, Mohammad Shbeeb, originally from Aleppo, and now living as a displaced person in Idlib said:

“If the strikes don’t take down the regime and don’t prevent Assad from ruling in Syria, it means nothing.”

Years of inaction by the international community, despite increasing Syrian government brutality, has left Syrians jaded, Shbeeb said.

Read more here of what other Syrians think about US air strikes in Syria...

Nicholas Drummond, a defence industry commentator, described the US strikes as a "token gesture" on Trump's part.

"That means he found little support for a comprehensive plan or major involvement in Syria," he told Middle East Eye. "He doesn't look strong or decisive. Putin will be watching carefully for any signs of weakness. And Trump just showed his hand.

"He isn't really running the show. At least this is how it appears."

The US missile strikes on a Syrian airbase early on Friday demonstrated "needed resolve" against chemical attacks, EU President Donald Tusk said.

"US strikes show needed resolve against barbaric chemical attacks," tweeted Tusk, who represents the 28 EU member states, adding that the bloc will work with the US to "end brutality" in Syria. 

Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, the EU executive, expressed his support for the US decision.

"President Juncker has been unequivocal in his condemnation of the use of chemical weapons," a commission statement said. 

"The repeated use of such weapons must be answered. He understands efforts to deter further attacks," it said. 

Juncker made "a clear distinction" between US missile strikes on a military base and the use of "chemical weapons against civilians".

He also urged diplomatic efforts to end the six-year war in Syria "be redoubled" as only a "political transition" can achieve lasting peace.

Ryan Evans, editor-in-chief of the War On The Rocks foreign policy analysis site has warned in a new article that Trump's latest action proves how risky and unpredictable he could be:

"We have heard repeatedly that Trump was a realist and was not interested in foreign intervention. Just days ago, senior members of the administration seemed to accept that Assad was here to stay. Yet, after this week’s chemical weapons attack, Trump was apoplectic and said there would be a response. And there was. While the chemical attack was undeniably horrific, Assad has been killing civilians with bullets and bombs for years in far greater numbers. To be direct, it scares me how quickly and casually Trump changed a longstanding policy preference on a major issue — especially one that involves death and destruction — and for reasons that are, to put it lightly, unclear. I worry what that portends for decisions on war and peace over the next four or eight years."

Nine planes as well as munition and fuel depots were destroyed in the US strike on Syria's Shayrat airbase early Friday but the runway was intact, the Russian state channel Rossiya24 reported from the scene.

"According to preliminary information, nine Syrian airplanes were destroyed," its correspondent said in a report from the base, broadcast hours after the strike at 0040 GMT Friday.

Stores with ammunition and fuel were also targeted, he said, adding that a fire and some explosions were ongoing.

"But not all equipment has been destroyed, there is some that was not impacted by the strike," the correspondent said. 

"The landing strip... is practically not impacted," he added.

Footage showed the runway intact but covered in debris, as well as two planes sitting in concrete hangars.

The aircraft were apparently not heavily damaged while some other hangars were charred and surrounded by rubble.

Syrian and Russian state broadcasters have released footage of the Shayrat airbase which was hit by 59 Tomahawk missiles overnight by an American warship.  

Syrian rebels on Friday welcomed a US strike on a government airbase, but urged additional action, with one powerful faction saying a single strike was "not enough."

The US attack on the Shayrat base in central Syria was Washington's first military action against the government in the six-year civil war.

"Hitting one airbase is not enough, there are 26 airbases that target civilians," a key figure in the Army of Islam faction, Mohamed Alloush, said on his Twitter account.

"The whole world should save the Syrian people from the clutches of the killer Bashar (al-Assad) and his aides."

Other rebel groups welcomed the US strike and called for continued military action against the government.

"The American strike against the killing tools used by Bashar al-Assad is the first step on the correct path to combating terrorism and we hope it will continue," said Issam Raes, spokesman for the Southern Front rebel faction.

"In my opinion, the message is political, and the message has arrived to Russia and been understood," he told AFP.

Colonel Ahmed Osman, of the Turkey-backed Sultan Murad rebel group said: "We welcome any action that will put an end to the regime that is committing the worst crimes in history."

Mohamed Bayrakdar, another leader of the Army of Islam, which operates mainly around the capital Damascus, described the strike as "a bold and correct step."

"We welcome any response to the crimes of the regime," he told AFP.