US military intelligence gathering flights have been surging off the coast of Cuba, CNN has reported, as the Trump administration has been threatening war against the island nation.
The report, which cited analysis of open-source data, said that since February 4, the US Navy and Air Force have conducted at least 25 surveillance flights, most of them near the country’s two biggest cities, Havana and Santiago de Cuba, and some coming within 40 miles of the coast.
The flights have been conducted with both drones and manned aircraft, mostly by P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. The report said that public surveillance flights over the island were very rare before the surge and noted that a similar increase in flights occurred off the coast of Venezuela in the months leading up to the attack on the country to abduct President Nicolas Maduro.
Following the attack on Venezuela, the US imposed a ramped-up oil embargo on Cuba, causing a devastating humanitarian crisis in the country. NBC News reported this week that President Trump has been frustrated that the increased embargo and other pressure haven’t led to the collapse of the Cuban government.
The NBC report said that the Pentagon has updated its plans for a potential attack on Cuba should the president order one. Trump has made clear that he wants Cuba to be his next military intervention following the war with Iran, but there’s no sign that the conflict in the Middle East will be over soon, as there are indications that the US and Israel may restart the full-scale bombing campaign against the country.
