Several dead in US strike on Syria base: local governor

This image released by the US Department of Defense, shows the Shayrat airfield in Syria on October 7, 2016. US President Donald Trump ordered a massive military strike on a Syrian air base on Thursday in retaliation for a "barbaric" chemical attack he blamed on President Bashar al-Assad. The US military fired dozens of cruise missiles at the Shayrat Airfield at 8:45 pm Eastern Time (0000 GMT), officials said. / AFP PHOTO / US Department of Defense / HO / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / US Department of Defense" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS
This image released by the United States Department of Defense, shows the Shayrat airfield in Syria on October 7, 2016. / AFP PHOTO /

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — The US military strike on a Syrian airbase has caused several deaths, said the governor of Homs province where the Shayrat base is located.

“There are martyrs, but we don’t yet know the number either of martyrs or of wounded,” Talal Barazi told AFP by telephone.

He said parts of the base were on fire and some of the wounded were suffering from burns.

“It will take some time to determine the extent of the damages,” he said.

“Of course we condemn this, all action targeting Syrian military bases is condemnable,” Barazi said.

He said the forces present at the base “provide important support” in the battle against the Islamic State group in the Palmyra region, home to a famed desert city that Syrian troops recaptured from jihadists last month.

© Agence France-Presse