Washington, April 18: US President Donald Trump's administration carried out a retaliatory strike on Syria last week even though intelligence agencies did not have absolute certainty that the Assad regime had used the nerve agent sarin against civilians, a media report said.
The decision to proceed with the strikes on the night of April 13 met a standard of evidence needed that officials felt they could accept, intelligence and defence sources told CNN on Tuesday.
Administration officials were adamant that whatever was used by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces to attack civilians in Douma on April 7 was a chemical agent and that alone justified taking action.
The lack of complete information played a role in deciding not to strike a larger set of targets including airfields, aircraft and helicopters, a defence official told CNN.
Other factors, like Russian positioning, also played a role in the decisions.
On Tuesday afternoon, Secretary of Defence James Mattis and Joint Chiefs Chair Joseph Dunford held a classified briefing for senators on the Syria strike that was launched in coordination with France and the UK.
Before the briefing, officials would not comment on whether the intelligence had become more certain post-strike.
Witnesses reported seeing at least one helicopter overhead at the time of the Syrian attack that had taken off from an airfield.
But at the time, intelligence officials did not have a full picture of the event, which would have included intercepts of conversations and verified paths that helicopters flew, the sources told CNN.
Prior to the US strike, full confirmation could not be made of whether Syria had used sarin in its attack.
"It's a hard, long process, especially in an attack like this without physical access to victims, site. Therefore we had to work with closest allies quickly to ensure we had confidence in the intelligence picture, enabling policymakers to choose best course of action," an intelligence official told CNN.
The Trump administration determined a "standard of evidence had been met", the official added.
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GBA chief commissioner orders removal of dilapidated structures at risk of collapse
Bengaluru (PTI): The GBA on Saturday said Chief Commissioner Maheshwar Rao has instructed officials to immediately identify and remove compound walls and buildings in a dilapidated condition that pose a risk of collapse within its jurisdiction.
The instructions were issued following directions from Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru City Development Minister D K Shivakumar, in the wake of destruction caused by heavy rains, strong winds, and a hailstorm that lashed the city on Wednesday evening.
The thunderous downpour and stormy winds brought down temperatures in the city but also left a trail of destruction.
A compound wall collapsed at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital, killing seven people, including a child.
“The collapse of the wall at Bowring Hospital due to the intensity of the rains, which tragically claimed seven lives, is an extremely unfortunate incident. The rains have caused damage to both public and private property and have disrupted public movement,” the Greater Bengaluru Authority said in a release.
In addition, there remains a continued risk of trees and branches falling in several areas, it added.
Therefore, the deputy CM has directed authorities to immediately identify hazardous trees, weak branches, dangerous walls, and unsafe buildings, and to take preventive measures to avoid any untoward incidents and inconvenience to the public, it said.
Accordingly, commissioners and additional commissioners of all five city corporations have been instructed to personally monitor the situation and form special teams comprising Fire and Emergency Services personnel, police staff, and city corporation officials and employees.
These teams have been directed to implement all necessary precautionary measures in view of the likelihood of further heavy rains, ensuring that the public faces no inconvenience.
Regarding the action being taken to remove unsafe walls, the GBA said that on Binnymill Road under the central city corporation, an old wall was found to be in a severely weakened condition and at imminent risk of collapse.
Following the recent rains, around 60 meters of the 10-foot-high wall had already collapsed.
Consequently, a 25-foot-high, 300-meter-long section of the wall has now been demolished, while the removal of an additional 100-meter stretch of the 10-foot-high wall is currently underway.
In the West City Corporation limits, at 8th Main Road, Mysore Lamps premises in Malleswaram, a 240-meter-long compound wall was identified as structurally unsafe. With appropriate safety measures, manpower, and machinery, the demolition of the wall has been completed.
