Russia says using the US strike on Syria as a pretext for cancelling a trip to Moscow by UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is absurd.

In reaction to a recent US missile strike on a Syrian airbase, the EU said it is against a military solution to the conflict in the Arab country.

It is coming up to 60 years since the creation of the EU, which was based on the desire to create peace and stability.

The civilian death toll from a suspected US-led airstrike in western Mosul is on the rise as rescue teams are pulling more bodies from under the rubble.

The US said Saturday that it had carried out a strike on a location in west Mosul on March 17 at which civilians were reportedly killed but Iraqi officials referred to more than one day of strikes.

President Assad also cast doubt on President Trump's pledge to fight Daesh terrorists.

The US military says its airstrikes have killed two senior al-Qaeda operatives in Syria in two separate incidents.