The United States attacked a Syrian air base with roughly 60 cruise missiles in response to a chemical weapons attack it blames on President Bashar Assad Thursday evening.

At least six people were killed in the air strike, according to a televised statement by the Syrian's Armed Forces General Command. Talal Barazi, the governor of the Homs province, told The Associated Press that seven others were wounded.

A Syrian opposition monitor said the attack killed four soldiers, including a general. The head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than a dozen hangars, a fuel depot and an air defense base were damaged.

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President Donald Trump said the attack on a Syrian air base was in the nation's "vital national security interest."

"Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children," Trump said.

Tomahawk missiles were fired from two warships in the Mediterranean Sea, targeting a government-controlled air base in Syria, officials say.

U.S. officials said Syrian government aircraft killed dozens of civilians by using chlorine mixed with a nerve agent, possibly sarin, earlier this week.

Syrian state TV reported a U.S. missile attack on a number of military targets and called the attack an "aggression."

The Associated Press contributed to this report