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Hearing loss of US diplomats in Cuba blamed on covert device

FILE - In this july 20, 2015 file photo, a member of the Cuban honor guard stands next to a new plaque at the front door of the newly reopened Cuban embassy in Washington. The State Department has expelled two diplomats from Cuba’s Embassy in Washington following a series of unexplained incidents in Cuba that left U.S. officials there with physical symptoms. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File, Pool) FILE - In this july 20, 2015 file photo, a member of the Cuban honor guard stands next to a new plaque at the front door of the newly reopened Cuban embassy in Washington. The State Department has expelled two diplomats from Cuba’s Embassy in Washington following a series of unexplained incidents in Cuba that left U.S. officials there with physical symptoms. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File, Pool)

By Associated Press August 10, 2017 1 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – The two-year-old diplomatic relationship between the United States and Cuba has been roiled by what U.S. officials are describing as a string of bizarre incidents that left a group of American diplomats in Havana with severe hearing loss attributed to a covert sonic device.

In the fall of 2016, a series of U.S. diplomats began suffering unexplained losses of hearing, according to officials with knowledge of the investigation into the case.

U.S. officials concluded that the diplomats had been exposed to an advanced device that operated outside the range of audible sound and had been deployed either inside or outside their residences.

The U.S. officials weren’t authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.