By Mario Fuentes and Daniel Trotta
SANTA CLARA, Cuba, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Cuba on Thursday appeared to be holding at a guarded provincial hospital at least some of the six wounded exiles who were detained following what Cuba described as an attack by 10 heavily armed Cuban nationals who tried to infiltrate the country by speedboat.
Four others aboard were killed on Wednesday when Cuban forces returned fire on the Florida-registered speedboat off the northern coast of Cuba, Cuba's Interior Ministry said.
The incident happened amid heightened U.S.-Cuban tensions. U.S. President Donald Trump has further tightened economic sanctions on Cuba since the U.S. captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a key Cuban ally, on January 3.
NOT A U.S. OPERATION: RUBIO
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said his government would independently investigate the incident and that the U.S. embassy in Havana was seeking access to the survivors to determine whether any were U.S. citizens or permanent residents. He said it was not a U.S. operation and that no U.S. government personnel were involved.
Florida-based politicians have pledged to conduct their own probes, saying they distrust the Cuban account.
Cuba said the six survivors were receiving medical attention. At least some of them appeared to be in custody at the Arnaldo Milian Castro Provincial Clinical Surgical Hospital in Santa Clara, about 250 km (150 miles) east of Havana.
Santa Clara is the capital of the province where the incident was reported to have taken place, about one nautical mile off a northern cay.
The civilian hospital was under heavy guard. Security personnel who stopped Reuters journalists near the entrance confirmed the suspects were held there but provided no further details. Uniformed Interior Ministry troops came and went from the hospital.
The Cuban government and U.S. embassy in Havana did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
CUBA WILL DEFEND ITSELF: DIAZ-CANEL
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel vowed on Thursday to defend the Caribbean country against aggression.
"Cuba will defend itself with determination and firmness against any terrorist and mercenary aggression that seeks to affect its sovereignty and national stability," Diaz-Canel said on X.
"Cuba does not attack, nor threaten," Diaz-Canel said, repeating a common Cuban response to decades of U.S. economic sanctions and the virtual oil blockade imposed by Trump in January.
The Cuban government said the attacking group comprised anti-government Cuban nationals, some of whom were previously wanted for plotting attacks.
The suspects came from the U.S. dressed in camouflage and armed with assault rifles, handguns, homemade explosives, ballistic vests and telescopic sights, Cuba said. An additional Cuban suspect was detained inside Cuban territory in connection with the plot, and the Cuban commander of the patrol was also wounded, the ministry said.
Cuban exiles who are largely concentrated in Miami have long dreamed of overthrowing Cuba's Communist government or seeing it fall.
Cuban exile paramilitaries have attempted or carried out acts of sabotage in the past. Government opponents may have been emboldened by recent events that have promoted a weak image for the country's rulers. The U.S. oil blockade has exacerbated severe energy shortages.
Cuba said two of the detainees were previously wanted in Cuba on suspicion of planning terrorist acts against Cuba: Amijail Sanchez Gonzalez and Leordan Enrique Cruz Gomez.
The other four were identified as Conrado Galindo Sariol, Jose Manuel Rodriguez Castello, Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara and Roberto Azcorra Consuegra.
In addition, Cuba said it detained another Cuban man in Cuban territory, Duniel Hernandez Santos, who had come from the United States to the island to receive the men.
One of the dead was identified as Michel Ortega Casanova, while the other three dead had yet to be identified, Cuba said.
(Reporting by Mario Fuentes in Santa Clara and Daniel Trotta in Havana; Additional reporitng by Anett Rios and Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Sarah Morland, Alistair Bell, Rod Nickel)
