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Updated May 14th, 2021 at 14:43 IST

Havana Syndrome: 130 US military personnel, diplomats suffered mysterious brain injury

"The pattern of attacking our fellow citizens serving government appears to be increasing," Mark Warner, Marco Rubio on US Senate Intelligence Committee said.

Reported by: Zaini Majeed
Havana syndrome brain
(Image Credit: AP)  | Image:self
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The mysterious invisible attacks dubbed as the "Havana Syndrome” that had struck diplomats in Cuba and China causing brain injuries in US troops, spies, diplomats affected as many as 130 personnel, former officials told the White House, according to a report carried by New York Times. Occurred nearly 5 years ago, the cases are more widespread than previously thought of. The illness caused 'mysterious injuries' in CIA officials, US State Department envoys, and the soldiers of the Defense Department overseas.

The initial cases were numbered at about 60, but recent investigations by the Biden administration have found that more than two dozens of military personnel and spies were victims of unexplainable energy attacks with a "vast majority" of cases occurring among officials stationed in countries abroad. “Numbers are increasing,” a DC attorney probing the troops afflicted with Havana syndrome told broadcasters in a televised broadcast.

As per the sensitive declassified report published Thursday, the directed-energy attacks that potentially resulted in the brain-damaging incidents took place in Washington DC, just outside the White House, as well as in Miami, Florida. These attacks have been a concern with both former Trump and currently Biden administration.

Democratic Senator Mark Warner and Republican Marco Rubio of the Senate Intelligence Committee issued an official statement, saying that a detailed review is being conducted into the mysterious attacks on United States personnel in Havana, Cuba, and overseas. The pattern, they said, of these energy-directed attacks have been increasing and particularly caused brain energy among officials posted in Cuba, China, Russia, Syria among other countries. Federal agencies, probing the incidences have suspected Russia’s top foreign intelligence agency begins the attacks. 

White House said in a statement, “The health and well-being of American public servants is a paramount priority to the Administration and we take extremely seriously reports by our personnel of anomalous health incidents.”

At least three former and current military officials told Politico, that the US suspected Moscow’s Main Intelligence Directorate ‘Glavnoye Razvedyvatelnoye Upravlenie’ [GRU]  behind these mysterious attacks, but "did not yet have a smoking gun to prove it”. The federal agencies and the National Security Council investigating the regions of attacks have dubbed it as  ‘active inquiry’. The CIA did not immediately respond to the network’s request to make comments. 

'Mysterious' condition reported 

In 2019, a US military officer stationed abroad abruptly suffered nausea and headaches as he pulled his motor vehicle at an intersection just outside his residence. Strangely, the officer’s mysterious condition reportedly ceased within few minutes. As many as 20 current, and former military officials, spies, and diplomats reported similar onset of ‘intense headaches’ across multiple government agencies. At least one incident involved a senior National Security Council official who was attacked while walking out from his car to the South Lawn of the White House, known as the Ellipse.  

One other personnel was identified as the NSC official walking a dog in Alexandria, Va. Both victims were targeted in the year 2019. The frequency of such ‘directed-energy attacks’ has surged pressure on US Congress to probe who and what has been behind the mysterious ‘illness’ that was reported by military personnel as causing eerie sounds and noises, as well as sensations in the brain. Among the range of symptoms, several officials were diagnosed with other range of symptoms, which included ‘traumatic brain injuries'. 

"At this point, at this moment, we don't know the cause of these incidents, which are both limited in nature and the vast majority of which have been reported overseas," White House press secretary Jen Psaki, told a presser as she acknowledged the newly reported cases in the US for the first time. 

"This pattern of attacking our fellow citizens serving our government appears to be increasing," Mark Warner of Virginia and Marco Rubio of Florida, both of whom are on the US Senate Intelligence Committee, warned in a statement last week. 

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Published May 14th, 2021 at 14:43 IST

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