New Delhi: Since 2016, there have been “mysterious” episodes among US security forces overseas such as spies, diplomats and other personnel who ended up with “brain injuries”, said a report in The New York Times. This has impacted more than 130 US security personnel.
While most of the above-mentioned cases were concentrated in China and Cuba, some also took place in Europe and other countries in Asia. These cases have been within US’ state and defense departments, the Central Intelligence Agency and elsewhere. According to NYT, since December 2020, three CIA officers have reported health problems while overseas.
After another incident, which took place in the past two weeks, all officers have been mandated to undergo outpatient treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Physicians at the facility have also said some of the officers were at risk of suicide.
While the severity of the brain injuries differ, most of the victims have experienced chronic and almost irreversible symptoms and pain, which could be related to permanent brain injury.
President Joe Biden’s administration till now has not been able to determine whether these constitute attacks or even who is responsible for the episodes. According to the NYT report, while officials believe Russia’s military intelligence agency — GRU — to be behind quite a few attacks, they have not been able to determine whether a foreign power is involved.
The first of these health incidents came to light in 2016 when diplomats and CIA officers in Havana, Cuba, reported feeling nauseous, having headaches and vertigo. Similar incidents were then reported in China’s Guangzhou and in Russia.
‘Premature to speculate‘
Moscow has repeatedly denied any involvement in these episodes.
Quoting Amanda J. Schoch, the spokeswoman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the NYT report said: “As of now, we have no definitive information about the cause of these incidents, and it is premature and irresponsible to speculate.”
In one of the cases, a military officer overseas pulled his vehicle into an intersection and was overcome by headaches and nausea. His two-year-old son, who was sitting in the back seat, also began crying. After he moved away from the intersection, his nausea stopped and the child stopped crying, according to the report.
Officials suspect the officer might have been targeted.
CIA cell to look into episodes
The investigation by The New York Times is based on interviews with 20 current and former officials across multiple government agencies.
The Biden administration is trying to strike a balance between showing that they are taking the issue seriously and trying to avoid a panic situation. The National Security Council has begun an intelligence review.
The CIA has now formed a cell to gather information about these episodes.
A report by the National Academy of Sciences from last December said a microwave weapon most likely caused the injuries.
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