
These are the first images of the carnage caused by Donald Trump's Tomahawk barrage on al-Assad's badly damaged airbase as Syrians thanked the President for the raid.

US missiles appear to have shattered hangars, destroyed at least nine Syrian jets, weapons and a fuel store, as well as leaving left giant craters in the runway at al-Shayrat military airfield near Homs.

Its radar system and surface-to-air missile defences were also damaged - but crucially the laser-guided missiles avoided the Sarin stores there.

Today smoke was billowing from al-Shayrat more than 12 hours after it was targeted with 59 missiles in retaliation for the Syrian leader's horrific chemical weapons attack on Idlib.

Anti-Assad Syrians have been celebrating the strike after the horrific chemical weapons attack - critics in the country say that the US should be focussing on destroying ISIS.

The Russians said that the strikes had 'extremely low' military effectiveness and claim large parts of the airbase are untouched - French and German ministers have urged Vladimir Putin not to escalate the crisis and join talks to avoid war.

First pictures: This is the shattered scene at Al Shayrat Airbase where 59 US missiles rained down on it overnight

US missiles appear to have shattered hangars, destroyed at least nine Syrian jets, weapons and a fuel store

Its radar system and surface-to-air missile defences were also damaged, according to security sources

Today smoke was billowing from al-Shayrat military airfield near Homs more than 12 hours after it was targeted with 59 missiles in retaliation for the Syrian leader's horrific chemical weapons attack on Idlib.

This unverified photograph posted this morning was claimed to be part of a missile fired into the airbase by the Americans

They were launched from Trump's state of the art destroyers USS Ross and USS Porter in the Mediterranean.

Syria's state TV is showing footage of the U.S. missile strike, showing a fast sequence of orange flashes that lit the dark sky in the distance before the crack of dawn.

President Donald Trump has launched a US airstrike against a Syrian air base after the gas atrocity which killed more than 80 people (pictured delivering a statement on Syria from the Mar-a-Lago estate in West Palm Beach, Florida, on April 6)

The shaky footage, apparently filmed with a mobile phone camera and aired Friday, came hours after about 60 U.S. Tomahawk missiles hit the base in Homs province, causing extensive damage to the base.

In a different sequence after day break, the Syrian TV station al-Ikhbariyah showed another short clip of smoke billowing in the distance, hovering over a raging fire, the tip of which emerges and a forest of trees is in the foreground.

The Syrian government said at least six people were killed, and several wounded in the attack. Activists say the air base, hangars, fuel depot and aircraft were badly damaged. A government official said a fire raged for over an hour.

Russian forces were warned ahead of the strike using a special military-to-military hotline - a convoy was seen leaving the area.

Anti-Assad Syrians have been celebrating the strike after the horrific chemical weapons attack.

Some said they had been hugging people in the street and crying after news that the Americans had intervened emerged.

One wrote on Facebook: 'I've worked my tail off for six damn years to see this moment. You have no idea how cathartic it is for me. I've been hugging everyone.

'If you run into me now chances are I'll hug you and cry. This is the first time in almost half a century that the Assad regime has been held accountable for a crime they committed. Only Syrians will fully understand what this means. I'm choking back tears.'

Syrian soldiers have returned to the airbase today - along with emergency services. At least six have died in the blasts

The runway was cratered and damaged but not all of it was destroyed, these photographs appear to show

The US destroyers that hammered al-Assad USS Porter: U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Porter was last seen in the Bosphorus off Istanbul in February and USS Porter Captain: CDR Andria L. Slough Class and type: Arleigh Burke-class destroyer Length: 505 ft (154 m) Team: 270 personnel including around 60 officers Weapons: Two missile launching systems with the ability to fire up to 90 Tomahawk missiles. It has six large guns and two torpedo tubes Aircraft: 2 helicopters USS Ross: Its location is secret but it is known to be in the eastern Med USS Ross Captain: CDR Russell J. Caldwell Class and type: Arleigh Burke-class destroyer Length: 505 ft (154 m) Team: 210 personnel and 38 senior officers Weapons: Two missile launching systems with the ability to fire up to 90 Tomahawk missiles. It also has a harpoon missile launcher. It has seven large guns and two torpedo tubes Aircraft: 2 helicopters Advertisement

Another said: 'For those of us who have campaigned tirelessly for humanitarian intervention for 6 years today is a surreal and momentous day.

'I can't even truly express how I feel, the devastating war is still years from ending, but for a brief few moments Syrians got to taste what justice feels like, even if that is only a smokescreen, the jubilation I am witnessing is very real.'

A seven-year-old refugee from Syria thanked Donald Trump today.

Bana Alabed, who has tweeted for years from inside Syria, wrote: 'I am a Syrian child who suffered under Bashar al Asad & Putin. I welcome Donald Trump action against the killers of my people.

'Putin and Bashar al Asad bombed my school, killed my friends & robbed my childhood. It's time to punish the killers of children in Syria.'

The military action has already sparked a furious response from Vladimir Putin, who this morning called the airstrikes an 'illegal act of aggression'. The Russian President, who has backed Assad militarily, warned of grave damage to relations between Washington and Moscow which are already 'in tatters'.

Syrian Army officials described the attack as an act of 'blatant aggression', saying it had made the United States 'a partner' of ISIS, the ex-Nusra Front and other 'terrorist organisations'.

President Trump, speaking from his Mar-a-Lago estate where he is hosting the Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng as part of a two day summit, said the US had to act after the Syrian dictator launched the 'horrible chemical weapons attack' on innocent civilians.

'Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack,' he said. 'It was a slow and brutal death for so many.'

Pentagon officials said that the airfield was being used to store chemical weapons and was a base for Syrian air forces - including the aircraft that conducted the chemical weapons attack.

Early reports indicate the strike has severely damaged or destroyed the aircraft and support infrastructure, while at least six people were killed.

A Syrian official claimed the attack killed three soldiers and two civilians, while a Syrian opposition monitor said it killed four soldiers, including a general. Talal Barazi, the governor of Homs province, said seven others were wounded in the early Friday attack.

The Pentagon has released dramatic footage of its missiles being launched from USS Ross, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, targeting the Syrian base.

In response, Putin this morning denounced the strike as an 'act of aggression against a UN member' and suspended a deal to avoid mid-air clashes with American fighter jets over the war-torn country.

Moscow received signals the US was launching an airstrike on a Syrian air base about 30 minutes in advance, according to a Russian ambassador to the UN - but the Trump administration did not ask Moscow for permission.

It is likely Russia alerted the Syrians about the incoming strikes but this has not been confirmed.

Target: In the early hours of this morning the strikes were launched from two US destroyers in the Med and have killed at least five and destroyed at least nine Syrian jets, a fuel store and badly damaged the runway at al-Shayrat airbase

Target: The strikes hit the government-controlled Shayrat air base in central Syria, where U.S. officials say the Syrian military planes that dropped the chemicals had taken off

USS Ross: This is the moment one of America's destroyers fired one of 59 Tomahawk missiles into Syria from a secret location in the Med

USS Porter: This destroyer is part of a US large fleet surrounding Syria and Iraq in the Med, Red Sea and Persian Gulf used to bombard Assad for the first time

Viktor Ozerov, head of the defense committee in the Russian Federation Council, told state news agency RIA that the US strikes 'may undermine the efforts in the fight against terrorism in Syria.'

'Russia will demand an urgent UN Security Council meeting after the US airstrike on Syrian aviation base. This is an act of aggression against a UN member.'

Russia's foreign minister says no Russian servicemen have been hurt in the bombing raid.

A Pentagon official told DailyMail.com that the president 'is dead-set against letting Assad labour under the illusion that the Syrian army can murder innocent people with impunity.'