Two more Americans have been confirmed to be affected by unexplained health attacks against US diplomats in Cuba, the United States said Tuesday, raising the total number of victims to 21.
A spate of ‘sonic’ attacks between November 2016 and August 2017 left diplomats in Cuba suffering from severe health problems.
Some lost their hearing and others suffered mild brain injuries as a result of the undetected attacks which authorities fear took place at their homes or nearby.
The additional two individuals appear to be cases that were only recently reported but occurred in the past.
A spate of attacks between November 2016 and August 2017 left 21 diplomats in Cuba suffering from severe health problems
The State Department said no new, medically confirmed ‘incidents’ have taken place since the most recent one in late August.
Earlier this month, the US disclosed there had been an incident in August after previously saying the attacks had stopped in April 2017.
It’s possible the number could grow even higher as more cases are discovered.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the US continues to assess American personnel.
The US citizens affected were members of the American diplomatic community, the US said.
Officials have said previously that the incidents, deemed ‘health attacks’ by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, affected diplomats posted to the Embassy in Havana along with family members who live with them.
The US didn’t say how serious the newly disclosed incidents were. But the State Department said it was providing ‘the best possible medical evaluation and care’ throughout the ordeal, including aid from a medical officer on staff at the embassy.
The union representing American diplomats has said mild traumatic brain injury is among the diagnoses given to some diplomats victimized in the attacks.
The American Foreign Service Association has said permanent hearing loss was another diagnosis, and additional symptoms had included brain swelling, severe headaches, loss of balance and ‘cognitive disruption.’
In fall 2016, the US diplomats reportedly began suffering unexplained losses of hearing. After an investigation, officials concluded that the diplomats had been attacked with an advanced sonic weapon that operated outside the range of audible sound (Pictured, the US Embassy in Havana in December 2015)
The evolving US assessment indicated investigators were still far from any thorough understanding of what transpired in the attacks, which started in the fall of 2016. The U.S. has described them as unprecedented.
As the bizarre saga has unfolded, the US has encouraged its diplomats to report any strange physical sensations.
The embassy in Havana reopened in 2015 after decades of hostility between the US and Cuba.
Diplomats complained of symptoms including severe headaches and dizziness.
They are believed to have taken place either inside or near their residences.
So it’s unclear whether some symptoms being attributed to the attacks might actually turn out to be unrelated.
Notably, the Shas avoided accusing Cuba’s government of being behind the attacks.
The United States did expel two Cuban diplomats, but the State Department emphasized that was in protest of the Cubans’ failure to protect the safety of American diplomats while on their soil, not an indication the US felt that Havana masterminded it.
US investigators have been searching to identify a device that could have harmed the health of the diplomats, believed to have been attacked in their homes in Havana, but officials have said no device had been found.
The embassy in Havana reopened in 2015 after decades of hostility between the US and Cuba.