U.S. Syria strike: Trump reasons out why runways were not hit

Responding to Russia's claim that the U.S. missile strike on a Syrian airbase wasn't very effective, President Donald Trump has explained as to why the runways were not attacked and remain undamaged.

Trump took to his Twitter page to say, "The reason you don't generally hit runways is that they are easy and inexpensive to quickly fix (fill in and top)!"

This comes two days after the Russian defence ministry informed about the total damage inflicted by the airstrike.

Syria's military said seven people were killed and several wounded. Six Syrian air force planes undergoing repairs at the base were destroyed, but the runways were undamaged, the Guardian quoted the Russian defence ministry saying after the attack.

Images released by the Pentagon showing "post strike areas of impact" did not note any damage to the runways.

As many as nine civilians, including four children were killed in the United States missile attack on a military airbase in central Syria on Friday.

While, Washington stated it fired a barrage of 59 cruise missiles at the Shayrat base in response to what President Trump called a 'barbaric' chemical attack on a rebel-held town on Tuesday that he blamed on the Damascus regime.

The U.S. officials said Russian commanders in Syria were informed of the strike beforehand in order to avoid casualties that could prompt a broader crisis.