On April 14, the US, UK, and French government launched an airstrike against areas associated with the Syrian chemical weapon regime. Chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff,  Gen. Joseph Dunford, stated that the sites targeted were: a scientific research center, a chemical weapons storage facility, and a chemical weapons equipment storage facility and command post. Officials from the Pentagon confirmed that of the 105 missiles fired toward Syria, 71  were intercepted by the Syrian’s air defense system.

The attack comes days after the US and it’s European allies blamed the president of Syria, Bashar al-Asaad, for chemical attacks in Damascus that killed over 40 people. Theresa May, the current British Prime Minister, warned that “the continued use of chemical weapons cannot go unchallenged.”

The Trump administration classified that the airstrikes were not meant to change the war’s trajectory, but rather to lessen the use of chemical arms during the Syrian civil war.