Ten gunmen on a US-flagged speedboat lost a deadly gunfight with Cuban border guards
Cuba has released photographs of the numerous weapons, ammunition, and tactical gear confiscated from the gunmen who recently attempted what it has called an “armed infiltration for terrorist purposes” off the island nation’s coast.
Ten gunmen aboard a Florida-registered speedboat attempted to enter Cuban territorial waters on Wednesday morning, the Cuban Embassy in the US said in a statement on Saturday. They allegedly fired on a patrol vessel during an attempted interception, wounding the captain. The Cuban boat, manned by five people, returned fire, killing three gunmen and injuring the others, according to the statement.
The authorities seized a number of weapons, 134 magazines and a total of 12,846 rounds of ammunition of various calibers, the embassy said. They also allegedly captured a drone, a portable generator and ten communications devices.
🇨🇺🚨Cuba revealed new details about the attempted armed infiltration for terrorist purposes
The Cuban response to the incident strictly adhered to the regulatory framework, based on different levels of force measures against an offending target: first it is identified, then… pic.twitter.com/AjxHZ95tvS
Each of the gunmen also had a prepared individual kit, which included a rifle, pistol, knife, camouflage uniform, balaclava, helmet, medkit and “other attachments,” Cuban news outlet Cubadebate reported on Saturday.
Photographs of the seized equipment released by the Cuban Embassy in the US show a number of AR-15 rifles and other weapons, as well as Molotov cocktails. Some of the helmets appear to be equipped with night or thermal vision.
Just a few images of the occupied rifles, military equipment, and ammo of the attempted infiltration of an speedboat from FL. pic.twitter.com/0AlGBaJIuR
Investigators have determined that two boats had originally departed Florida, Cubadebate cited Colonel Victor Alvarez Valle, one of the heads of Criminal Investigation for State Security at the Interior Ministry, as saying.
“One ran into technical difficulties on the way and the occupants moved to the other, which is why they finally arrived in a single boat,” he reportedly said.
One of the gunmen was identified as Amijail Sanchez Gonzalez, who was previously flagged by the Cuban authorities as “linked to terrorist activities,” Cubadebate cited Valle as saying. The investigation indicates that the mastermind behind the incident is US-resident Maritza Lugo Fernandez, a member of the November 30th anti-Castro insurgency, he stated.
