New Delhi: A high profile US intelligence officer who accompanied CIA chief William J Burns to New Delhi early this month was reported to have been affected by symptoms of Havana syndrome, signalling a possible escalation in the mysterious incidents that have affected US officials since 2016, said US officials.
Although the incident is still under investigation to unearth if the CIA officer was targeted by an "adversarial intelligence service" because the CIA officer was travelling with the Burns, or for other reasons.
According to the New York Times report, "while some officials are convinced they are attacks and that one or more rival powers are responsible, intelligence agencies have yet to come to any firm conclusions.
"Theories abound, including that the injuries are byproducts of surveillance technology or that they are deliberate attempts to inflict harm, but all remain unproven."
Nevertheless, Burns was angered by the incident in India, officials said. Some former officials suggested that if it was an attack and an adversarial power was responsible, striking at Burns’ delegation would amount to an egregious escalation.
The incident in India was reported earlier by CNN.
The NYT report went on to add: "Burns has made investigating the anomalous health incidents attributed to Havana syndrome a top priority, creating a targeting cell to investigate the incidents and improving medical care for those who have been injured by them."
What is baffling is almost "half of the known cases involve CIA officers, although State Department diplomats and members of the military have also been affected".
It may be recalled that last month, US Vice President Kamala Harris was delayed for three hours as she was about to fly to Hanoi, Vietnam, after a U.S. official in Vietnam reported Havana syndrome symptoms.
"Last week the Pentagon warned its entire workforce about the anomalous health incidents, which it said often involve strange sounds or a sensation of heat or pressure followed by headache, nausea, vertigo and other symptoms."
What's Havana Syndrome?
It is one of the most extraordinary cases in the history of science: the mating calls of insects were mistaken for a “sonic weapon” that led to a major diplomatic row. Since August 2017, the world media has been absorbed in the “attack” on diplomats from the American and Canadian Embassies in Cuba. While physicians treating victims have described it as a novel and perplexing condition that involves an array of complaints including brain damage, the authors present compelling evidence that mass psychogenic illness was the cause of “Havana Syndrome.” (Courtesy: Havana Syndrome: Mass Psychogenic Illness and the Real Story Behind the Embassy Mystery and Hysteria by Robert W. Baloh, Robert E. Bartholomew)
