Cuban Forces Kill Four Attempting To ‘Infiltrate’ Island

(CNN);Cuba said its forces fatally shot four people attempting to “infiltrate” its territory on a Florida-registered speedboat on Wednesday, amid simmering tensions between the communist island and the US.

Cuban border guard troops approached the boat to identify it after it entered Cuban territorial waters in Falcones Cay, Villa Clara Province, just over 100 miles from Florida, the country’s interior ministry said in a statement.

A passenger on the speedboat shot at the Cuban vessel, wounding its commander, and prompting Cuban forces to shoot back return fire, according to the statement. Six other people aboard the speedboat were wounded and are receiving medical attention.

The passengers were Cuban residents of the US and were armed, the interior ministry later clarified in a statement published by state-run news website Cubedebate. Assault rifles, handguns and Molotov cocktails were seized from the speedboat.

According to “preliminary statements” of the six surviving passengers, who are now in detention, the group “intended to carry out an infiltration for terrorist purposes,” the interior ministry statement said.

Two of the surviving passengers were previously wanted by Cuba for terrorism, the ministry added.

Another individual who was sent from the US to “facilitate the reception of the armed infiltration” was arrested and has since confessed, the statement said.

The incident comes amid heightened tensions between the US and Cuba as Washington has blocked virtually all oil shipments from reaching the communist-run island. The oil shortage has brought Cuba’s economy to its knees, with the Caribbean nation experiencing its worst era of economic uncertainty in decades.

Earlier US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US embassy in Havana was looking into the incident after being informed of it by Cuban authorities.