The United States launched a military strike Thursday against the Syrian government in response to their chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of civilians earlier this week. President Donald Trump ordered the attack, according to CNN.

"Tonight, I ordered a targeted military strike on the air field in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched," Trump said. "It is in this vital national security of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons."

U.S. warships launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian government airbase where the warplanes that supposedly carried out the chemical attacks were based.

Here's video from the #Tomahawk launches against #Syria. For more on the story, visit https://t.co/2GprTQGGjs. pic.twitter.com/kB3gbBy4ma

— U.S. Dept of Defense (@DeptofDefense) April 7, 2017

The strike is the first direct military action the U.S. has taken against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country's six-year civil war.

It represents an escalation of the American military campaign in the region, which could be interpreted by the Syrian government as an act of war. This could also tense the relations between the U.S. and Russia, the main international supporter of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

The US military contacted their Russian counterparts about the attack ahead of time, in accordance with deconfliction policies between the U.S. and Russia over military activities in Syria.

Russia reacted saying that the U.S. strike against Syria’s facilities is an aggression and impairs both the Russian-US relations and the common fight against terrorism.

"President Putin considers the US strikes against Syria an aggression against a sovereign country violating the norms of international law, and under a trumped-up pretext at that," Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, according to Tass. He noted that the Syrian army has no chemical weapons stockpiles.

editor@romania-insider.com