WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States launched 50 Tomahawk cruise missiles against Syrian government targets in retaliation for what the Trump administration charges was a Syrian government chemical weapons attack that killed scores of civilians, a U.S. official said on Thursday.

The targets hit from U.S. ships in the Mediterranean Sea included the air base in the central city of Homs from which the Syrian aircraft staged Tuesday’s chemical weapons attack, said the U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity.