Four children, five other civilians killed in U.S. air strike, Syria confirms

Nine civilians including four children were killed in the U.S. missile attack on a Syrian airbase near the city of Homs on Friday, the Syrian state news agency said.

The SANA report said the civilians died in villages near the airbase.

It said seven more people had been wounded and homes in the area had been badly damaged.

Earlier, Homs governor, Talal Barazi, said seven people had been killed in the attack. It was not immediately clear if these were separate casualty tolls.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he had ordered missile strikes against the airfield from which a deadly chemical attack was allegedly launched, declaring he acted in America’s “national security interest” against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The strikes drew sharp criticism from Russia, Mr. al-Assad’s ally.

U.S. officials said the military fired dozens of cruise missiles against the base in response to the suspected gas attack in a rebel-held area this week, which Washington has blamed on Mr. al-Assad’s forces.

The Syrian government has strongly denied responsibility and says it does not use chemical weapons.