U.S. warships fired a barrage of missiles into Syria Thursday evening, in the first direct U.S. assault on the Syrian government since the start of the civil war six years ago. The Pentagon said a pair of naval destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian air base in Homs province. Syria’s government said the strikes killed six people, and condemned the U.S. attack as an “act of aggression.” In a short address from the Trump Mar-a-Lago golf resort in Palm Beach, Florida, President Donald Trump said the assault was retribution for a Syrian chemical weapons attack earlier this week that killed 86 civilians, including 30 children.

President Donald Trump: “Tonight I ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched. It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons.”