美军向叙利亚空军基地发射导弹报复化学武器袭击

The U.S. military fired a barrage of missiles into Syria early Friday in retaliation for a gruesome chemical weapons attack blamed on President Bashar al-Assad\'s forces that killed about 100 civilians. It is the first direct U.S. assault on Syrian government forces.

Russia, which is providing troops and air support to the Assad government, condemned the U.S. military action, calling it an "aggression against a sovereign state," and said they were suspending a memorandum of understanding for flight safety over Syria between Russia and the United States.

The 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched about 4:40 a.m. local time from the U.S. Navy destroyers USS Ross and USS Porter, which are deployed in the eastern Mediterranean. The missile launch lasted for three to four minutes, U.S. officials said.

U.S. forces are said to have targeted Shayrat Airfield in western Syria in retaliation for the chemical weapons attack American officials believe Syrian government aircraft launched on a rebel-held town with a nerve gas, possibly sarin.

A Navy official told VOA the airfield was targeted because it was most likely used to launch Tuesday\'s chemical strikes.

"We have a very high level of confidence that the attacks were carried out under aircraft under the direction of Bashar al-Assad\'s regime. We have very high confidence that the attacks involved the use of sarin nerve gas," U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said during a security briefing to reporters late Thursday.

Tillerson said it was important to take action against the Syrian leader, because "as Assad has continued to use chemical weapons in these attacks with no response, with no response from the international community, he - in effect - is normalizing the use of chemical weapons, which may then be adopted by others."

为阿萨德政府提供部队和空中支援的俄罗斯强烈谴责美国的军事行动，称美国的行动是“对一个主权国家的侵略”，并表示中止执行俄罗斯和美国在叙利亚的飞行安全谅解备忘录。

美军从部署在地中海东部的美国巡洋舰罗斯号和波特号发射了59颗战斧巡航导弹。美国有关官员说，导弹发射持续了三四分钟。

美军据信打击的目标是叙利亚西部的谢拉特机场，以报复美国官员认为叙利亚政府飞机对一个反政府武装控制的城镇发动的化学武器袭击。化学武器的毒剂可能是神经毒气沙林。

美国海军一位官员告诉美国之音，打击那个机场是因为星期二的化学武器攻击最有可能是利用那个机场发动的。

美国国务卿蒂勒森星期四晚上就安全问题对记者说，“美国有非常高的把握，相信化学武器进攻是阿萨德政权指挥下的飞机进行的。我们有相当高的把握，相信进攻涉及使用沙林神经毒气。”

蒂勒森说，采取针对叙利亚总统的行动是重要的，因为“阿萨德继续使用化学武器进攻，国际社会如果没有反应，他实际上就等于是把使用化学武器常规化了，其他国家可能随后也采用这种做法。”