Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Friday condemned the U.S. missile strike that damaged large areas of a military air base, calling the attack "unjust and arrogant aggression" and "disgraceful" and accused the U.S. of trying to "dominate the world," the Washington Post reported.
Assad's response was issued in a statement through the Syrian state news agency, which maintained the attack would only serve to embolden the Syrian government to continue attempts to "crush" extremist militant groups.
President Donald Trump authorized the strike Thursday following a chemical attack earlier in the week in northern Syria where scores of civilians were killed. Trump said the strike was in the "vital national security interest" of the U.S. and called on "all civilized nations to join us in seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria. And, also to end terrorism of all kinds and all types."
Though not independently confirmed, casualties in Thursday's attack included 13 people killed, including five soldiers on the base and eight civilians near the facility, according to Talal al-Barazi, the governor of Homs province, where the air base is located. A general was also believed to be among the dead, reported The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group.
This was thought to be the same base where aircraft launched earlier in the week that delievered the deadly nerve agent. Thursday's attack reportedly damaged more than a dozen hangars and a fuel depot.
The Syrian government denied the use of chemical weapons against its people, and Barazi claimed the missile attack would not cause a shift in its policy saying, "The war on terrorism is sustained, and the protection of the people is our priority."
However, praise rang out from several Syrian groups in opposition to Assad, who called for more action.
"God bless Trump, but the story does not end here," said Bayan al-Qalamumni, a former civil servant from the Damascus suburbs now living as a refugee in southern Turkey. "The criminal must be brought to justice before the entire world."
"The American airstrike was limited militarily but represents a significant turnaround in how America and the world will treat the Syrian people and their revolution," Capt. Mohanad Jnied, head of external relations for Jaish al-Nasr, wrote on Twitter.
And, Mahmoud al-Hadi, a spokesman for the U.S.-allied Raqqa Revolutionaries Brigade, said, "(the Syrian air force) should be neutralized completely."
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