美軍向敘利亞空軍基地發射導彈報復化學武器襲擊
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."美軍星期五凌晨時分向敘利亞發射一連串導彈，以報復造成可怕傷亡的化學武器襲擊。據信，襲擊是由敘利亞總統阿薩德的部隊發動的，導致約100名平民死亡。這是美國首次直接攻擊敘利亞政府軍。
爲阿薩德政府提供部隊和空中支援的俄羅斯強烈譴責美國的軍事行動，稱美國的行動是“對一個主權國家的侵略”，並表示中止執行俄羅斯和美國在敘利亞的飛行安全諒解備忘錄。
美軍從部署在地中海東部的美國巡洋艦羅斯號和波特號發射了59顆戰斧巡航導彈。美國有關官員說，導彈發射持續了三四分鐘。
美軍據信打擊的目標是敘利亞西部的謝拉特機場，以報復美國官員認爲敘利亞政府飛機對一個反政府武裝控制的城鎮發動的化學武器襲擊。化學武器的毒劑可能是神經毒氣沙林。
美國海軍一位官員告訴美國之音，打擊那個機場是因爲星期二的化學武器攻擊最有可能是利用那個機場發動的。
美國國務卿蒂勒森星期四晚上就安全問題對記者說，“美國有非常高的把握，相信化學武器進攻是阿薩德政權指揮下的飛機進行的。我們有相當高的把握，相信進攻涉及使用沙林神經毒氣。”
蒂勒森說，採取針對敘利亞總統的行動是重要的，因爲“阿薩德繼續使用化學武器進攻，國際社會如果沒有反應，他實際上就等於是把使用化學武器常規化了，其他國家可能隨後也採用這種做法。”
