Officer accompanying CIA chief develops 'Havana' symptoms
CTV
A U.S. intelligence officer suffered symptoms linked to a series of suspected directed-energy attacks known as 'Havana syndrome' while travelling with CIA Director William Burns in India this month.
Experts are in the process of verifying the officer's symptoms, which are consistent with the scores of other cases in recent years linked to Havana syndrome, according to James Giordano, a scientist briefed on the case and others. CNN first reported the incident.
Defence and intelligence agencies have ramped up investigations of what appears to be a rising number of incidents in which personnel have suffered symptoms consistent with being exposed to directed energy. The symptoms are often referred to as Havana syndrome because of a well-known series of cases affecting personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba beginning in 2016. The U.S. has not publicly linked the incidents to an adversary.
There are at least 200 cases under investigation, half of them involving intelligence personnel.
It's unclear whether the officer was targeted because he was travelling with Burns, who has ordered an agency-wide review of possible attacks using microwave or other directed energy.
