Trump claims 'perfectly executed' missile strike will set back Syria's chemical weapons program 'for years'

Donald Trump has praised his allies for "a perfectly executed" missile strike, estimating it will set Syria's chemical weapons program back "for years".

President Trump said the US-led strike "could not have had a better result" after Syrian military targets were struck before dawn over a suspected gas attack last week that Western powers blamed on President Bashar al-Assad and his allies.

The Pentagon claimed the targeted bombing in Damascas will set back the Assad-regime chemical weapons programme back years.

IN FULL: US President Donald Trump's speech announcing Syrian airstrikes

Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White told the press the US were not "seeking conflict in Syria" and only looking to provide "an immediate response" to the suspected chemical attack on April 7.

"We cannot allow such grievous violations of international law," Ms White said, adding: "We are confident we have significantly degraded his ability to use chemical weapons again."

Another 22 weapons were aimed at a chemical weapons storage facility west of Homs.

A third target was a chemical weapons equipment storage site and command post, also near Homs.

They also revealed there have been no reports of civilian casualties "as of now".

"We selected these targets carefully to avoid civilian casualties... and they were successfully hit," he said.

World leaders from France, UK, Germany, Spain and Australia have all voiced their support for the strikes, all claiming they were a warranted action.

However, China, Iran and Russia have condemned the move.

Vladimir Putin called the missile strikes an "act of aggression against a sovereign state" and claimed they were against the United Nation charter.