Assad allies vow to keep battling 'terrorism' in Syria

The Russian and Iranian army chiefs vowed on Saturday to keep battling "terrorists" in Syria, a day after a US missile onslaught on a Syrian airbase following a suspected chemical weapons attack.

General Valery Gerasimov and Major General Mohammad Bagheri spoke by phone and "condemned the American operation against a Syrian airbase which is an aggression against an independent country," Iran's state news agency IRNA said.

US warships in the Mediterranean launched a barrage of 59 cruise missiles at Shayrat airbase in Syria early on Friday, after 87 people including 31 children were killed in a suspected aerial chemical attack on rebel-held Khan Sheikhun.

Idlib province is controlled by a rebel alliance that includes a former al-Qaeda affiliate, and is regularly targeted by both the Syrian government and its Russian ally.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke by phone on Saturday about the situation in Syria, the Russian ministry said in a statement.

Lavrov pointed out that "an attack on a country whose government fights terrorism only plays into the hands of extremists, creates additional threats to regional and global security," the Russian ministry said.

He also told Tillerson that assertions that the Syrian military used chemical weapons in Idlib province on 4 April do not correspond to reality, the ministry added.

It said Lavrov and his US counterpart agreed to continue discussions on Syria in person. Tillerson is expected in Moscow for talks with Russian officials next week.

Much of the international community accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government of responsibility for Tuesday's suspected chemical attack on Khan Sheikhun, though Damascus denied responsibility.

The suspected attack prompted Washington to take its first direct military action against Assad's government, with missiles raining down on the Shayrat airbase in central Syria.

North Korea on Saturday denounced the American attack, calling it an "intolerable act of aggression" that "proves a million times over" that strengthening its nuclear programme was the right choice.

The statement by the Iranian and Russian military chiefs said they both vowed to continue their military cooperation in support of Assad "until the total defeat of the terrorists and those that support them," according to Iran's Mehr news agency.

The American strikes "aim at slowing the victories of the Syrian army and its allies, and reinforcing terrorist groups," they said in a statement.

Iran and Russia are Assad's closest allies, and label all opponents of his government as "terrorists".

Both Tehran and Moscow have defended Assad against Western allegations that his government carried out the suspected chemical weapons attack on Khan Sheikhun.

Several Iraqi Shiite militias, some of them directly supported by Iran, are helping Assad's camp in the Syria conflict by sending fighting units across the border.