On the morning of 7 April 2017, the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the Mediterranean Sea into Syria, aimed at Shayrat Airbase controlled by the Syrian government. The strike was executed on the authorization of U.S. president Donald Trump, as a direct response to the Khan Shaykhun chemical attack that occurred on 4 April.
The strike was the first unilateral military action by the United States targeting the Syrian government during the Syrian civil war. President Trump stated shortly thereafter, "It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons."
The Syrian Air Force launched airstrikes against the rebels from the base only hours after the American attack. It was reported that advance warning was given to Russia, an ally of the Syrian government, by the US prior to the missile strike.
Attack
On the evening of 6 April, President Trump notified members of the U.S. Congress of his plan on the missile strike. According to a White House official, more than two dozen members of Congress were briefed at the notification. Internationally, the United States also notified several countries, including Canada, the UK, Australia, and Russia, in advance of the strike. The U.S. military stated it communicated with the Russian military to minimize any chance of Russian casualties. The strike was conducted without either U.S. congressional or United Nations Security Council approval. Commodore Tate Westbrook commanded the Navy task force in charge of the missile launch.
It was the first time that the United States had acknowledged intentionally carrying out military action against the forces of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
The strike targeted Shayrat Airbase in the Homs Governorate, which was believed by U.S. intelligence to be the base for the aircraft that carried out a chemical weapons attack on 4 April, and was intended to destroy air defenses, aircraft, hangars and fuel. The US avoided striking a suspected sarin gas storage facility at the targeted airport. Fifty-nine Tomahawk missiles were said to have been launched from two U.S. Navy warships, USS Ross and USS Porter, at around 20:40 EDT (04:40 local time). Reconnaissance was provided by Python 73, a Boeing RC-135 of the 55th Wing.
Casualties
U.S. Central Command stated in a press release that Tomahawk missiles hit "aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, defense systems, and radars". Initial U.S. reports claimed "approximately 20 planes" were destroyed, and that 58 out of the 59 cruise missiles launched "severely degraded or destroyed" their intended target. According to the satellite images the runways and the taxiways have been reportedly undamaged and combat flights from the attacked airbase resumed on 7 April a few hours after the attack, although U.S. officials did not state that the runway was a target. In a later statement on 10 April 2017, the US secretary of defense James Mattis claimed that the strike destroyed about 20% of the Syrian government's operational aircraft and the base had lost the ability to refuel or rearm aircraft.
An independent bomb damage assessment conducted by ImageSat International counted hits on 44 targets, with some targets being hit by more than one missile; these figures were determined using satellite images of the airbase 10 hours after the strike. Among the targets struck was a 2K12 Kub (SA6) missile battery composed of five elements.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strike damaged over a dozen hangars, a fuel depot, and an air defense base.
Al-Masdar News reported that 15 fighter jets were damaged or destroyed and that the destruction of fuel tankers caused several explosions and a large fire.
According to the claims of Russian defense ministry, the "combat effectiveness" of the attack was "extremely low"; they claimed that only 23 missiles hit the base destroying six aircraft, and it did not know where the other 36 landed. Russian television news, citing a Syrian source at the airfield, said that nine planes were destroyed by the strikes (5 Su-22M3s, 1 Su-22M4, and 3 Mig-23ML) and that all planes were thought to have been out of action at the time. The Israeli satellite imagery services company ImageSat International later released high resolution satellite images of the base taken within 10 hours of the attack showing that at a minimum, 44 targets had been hit, and that some had been hit multiple times.
Seven or nine Syrian soldiers were killed, including a general; Russian military personnel were also present at the airbase at the time it was attacked. According to Syrian state news SANA, nine civilians were also killed in the attack, including four children. SANA also stated that five of the civilians were killed in the village of Shayrat, outside the base, while another four were killed in the village of Al-Hamrat, and that another seven civilians were wounded when a missile hit homes in Al-Manzul, four kilometers (two and a half miles) away from the Shayrat air base. According to Russian defense ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov, four Syrian soldiers were killed and another two were missing.
Some observers believe that the Russian government warned the Syrian government, which had enough time to move planes to another base.
Aftermath
Hours after the U.S. missile strike, Syrian military aircraft took off from the Shayrat base to attack rebel positions again, including the town of Khan Shaykhun. Commentators attributed the ability of the Syrian government to continue to operate from the base to the fact that the US gave Russia, Syria's ally, an advanced warning regarding the strike, which enabled Syrians to shelter many of its aircraft from the attack.
Within a day of the attack, Russia announced it would strengthen Syria's air defenses and formally notified the Pentagon that as of 21:00 GMT (00:00 Moscow Time, 8 April 2017), Russia had suspended the U.S.–Russia Memorandum of Mutual Understanding, which had established a hotline between the countries' militaries designed to avoid collisions between their aircraft over Syria. As a result, Belgium suspended its air operations in Syria, and the US began limiting itself to only the most essential air strikes.
According to some local sources, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant took advantage of the attack and absence of the Syrian Air Force in eastern Homs, by launching several attacks on the Syrian Army's defenses in the western Palmyra countryside. It also attacked the checkpoints outside the village of al-Furqalas, but those attacks were repelled. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Shayrat airbase remained operational and Syrian warplanes took off from it the following day. The price of oil briefly rose over 2% following the strike.
After both the chemical attack and missile strike, the U.S. administration was in disagreement and contradiction to U.S. policy from 2013 until 30 March 2017, as well the statements by U.S. ambassador to U.N. Nikki Haley, United States secretary of state Rex Tillerson, White House press secretary Sean Spicer and National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster differed on the change of U.S. military posture toward Syria and prioritization of regime change.
On 7 April 2017, an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council was held: Bolivia's ambassador Sacha Llorenty requested a closed session to discuss the U.S. strike, but U.S. ambassador Nikki Haley, serving as the council president for April, forced the meeting to be held in public view. United Nations News Centre reported that while some delegates expressed support for the strikes as a response to the Syrian government's alleged use of chemical weapons, others condemned it as a unilateral act of aggression, underlining that the Council must authorize any such intervention.
On 8 April 2017, the UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson issued a statement that announced that, upon consultations with the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, he had cancelled his trip to Moscow scheduled for 10 April. On 11 April 2017, after the meeting at Lucca in Italy the Group of Seven unanimously blamed the Syrian government's military for the chemical attack and agreed that Assad must step down as part of any peace solution, but European allies rejected the US and UK push for sanctions against Russia and Syria.
On 19 April 2017, two US defense officials said that the Syrian government had relocated the majority of its combat planes to Khmeimim Airbase shortly after the strike.
In September 2020, U.S. president Trump mentioned that he wanted to kill al-Assad in 2017, by saying: "I would have rather taken him out. I had him all set, Mattis didn't want to do it."
Reactions
United States
Politicians
Reactions from members of Congress were largely supportive but not uniform by political party. Paul Ryan (R–WI), the speaker of the United States House of Representatives, said the strike was "appropriate and just". House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R–CA) said, "Assad has made his disregard for innocent human life and long-standing norms against chemical weapons use crystal clear. Tonight's strikes show these evil actions carry consequences." House minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D–CA) said, "Tonight's strike in Syria appears to be a proportional response to the regime's use of chemical weapons." Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R–KY) said the strike was "perfectly executed and for the right purpose". Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D–NY) said, "Making sure Assad knows that when he commits such despicable atrocities he will pay a price is the right thing to do." Senator Bill Nelson (D–FL) expressed his support, and said, "I hope this teaches Assad not to use chemical weapons again." Senator Marco Rubio (R–FL) called it an "important decisive step". Quoting the president's statement, Senator Orrin Hatch (R–UT) tweeted, "'No child of God should ever suffer such horror.' Amen." In a joint statement, Senators John McCain (R–AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R–SC) said, "Unlike the previous administration, President Trump confronted a pivotal moment in Syria and took action. For that, he deserves the support of the American people." Their sentiment was shared by fellow Senators Bob Corker (R–TN), Tom Cotton (R–AR), Joni Ernst (R–IA), Cory Gardner (R–CO), David Perdue (R–GA), Ben Sasse (R–NE), and Thom Tillis (R–NC). Many members who supported the action showed lack of worry about the authority issues or did not know the legal and constitutional rationale that supported the action.
Other lawmakers criticized the President's actions, or urged caution. Representative Adam Schiff (D–CA), the Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee, was informed of the strike by Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, as it was happening. He urged the administration "not to make this a military effort to change the regime". In a joint statement, Representatives and Iraq War veterans Seth Moulton (D–MA) and Steve Russell (R–OK) said, "We cannot stand by in silence as dictators murder children with chemical weapons, but military action without clear goals and objectives gets us nowhere." Senator Chris Coons (D–DE) said he was "gravely concerned that the United States is engaging further militarily in Syria without a well-thought-out, comprehensive plan". Representative Ted Lieu (D–CA) and Senator Tim Kaine (D–VA) called the strike unconstitutional, with the former tweeting, "This was done with no debate in Congress and no explanation to the American people." Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) tweeted that the strike could lead the U.S. into a new long-term quagmire, and that "such engagements are disastrous for American security, for the American economy, and for the American people". Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D–HI) gave a more critical message, and said, "This escalation is short-sighted and will lead to the death of more civilians, more refugees, the strengthening of al-Qaeda and other terrorists, and a possible nuclear war between the United States and Russia." Other lawmakers expressing criticism included Senators Michael Bennet (D–CO), Ben Cardin (D–MD), Ted Cruz (R–TX), Dick Durbin (D–IL), Ed Markey (D–MA), Jeff Merkley (D–OR), Elizabeth Warren (D–MA), and Representatives Joaquín Castro (D–TX) and Steny Hoyer (D–MD).