In this image from video provided by the U.S. Navy, the guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) launches a tomahawk land attack missile in the Mediterranean Sea, Friday, April 7, 2017. Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Ford Williams/U.S. Navy via AP

The United States launched a salvo of 59 cruise missiles on Shayrat airfield and nearby military infrastructure controlled by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in response to a chemical attack that killed at least 80 people in the northwestern part of the country on Monday.

The Tomahawk missiles, launched from the USS Ross and the USS Porter at dawn local time on Friday, represent the first US strikes on the Assad regime, according to a statement from the Pentagon.

US President Donald Trump, initially resistant to the idea of becoming involved in Syria, said it was in the vital national security interest of the US to prevent the use of chemical weapons.

"No child of god should suffer such horror," Trump said in an address to reporters after the cruise missile strikes.