The US strike on a Syrian air base destroyed a fifth of the Syrian regime's working warplanes, Pentagon chief Jim Mattis said as Washington fired a fresh salvo of warnings at President Bashar al-Assad.
"The assessment of the Department of Defense is that the strike resulted in the damage or destruction of fuel and ammunition sites, air defense capabilities, and 20% of Syria's operational aircraft," Mattis said in a statement.
"The Syrian government has lost the ability to refuel or re-arm aircraft at Shayrat airfield and at this point, use of the runway is of idle military interest," he added.
He underlined that the United States will not passively stand by while Assad murders innocent people with chemical weapons, which are prohibited by international law and which were declared destroyed. "The Syrian government would be ill-advised ever again to use chemical weapons," he added. 
The United States on Friday blasted 59 Tomahawk missiles at the Shayrat air base near Homs, which the Pentagon said Assad's jets had used to launch a deadly chemical attack on rebel-held Idlib province. 

Source: QNA