The Syrian state news agency reported Friday that U.S. missile strikes killed nine civilians, including four children, in villages near the airbase targeted by 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles.

The report has not been independently verified.

Citing eyewitness accounts, Syrian state news agency SANA reported the civilian casualties resulted from missiles striking two villages and destroying several homes.

Syrian President Bashar Assad condemned the U.S. attack as “reckless and irresponsible.”

The claim of civilian casualties, including children, countered President Trump’s remarks justifying military action based, in part, on a chemical weapon attack by the Assad regime earlier in the week that killed as many as 100 people, including children.

“No child of God should ever suffer such horror,” Mr. Trump said when announcing the missile strike Thursday night. “Tonight, I ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched.”

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