"We chose 4:40 in the morning Syrian time on a Friday, which is also a holiday. The likelihood that civilians would have been in any of those targeted areas we feel is significantly low," Pahon said.
"We also chose a time and a date [for the strikes] where it was highly unlikely the personnel would be located at the targets that we chose," Pahon stated on Thursday.
He added that the Pentagon still assesses the battle damage and the outcome of the strikes.
On Thursday night, the United States launched over 50 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the military airfield in Ash Sha’irat, located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the city of Homs.
US Department of Defense Spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis said in a statement that the strikes appeared to have severely damaged infrastructure and aircraft.
According to Davis, US took exceptional measures to avoid civilian deaths during strikes at Shayrat (Ash Sha’irat) Airfield.
