BERLIN — Intelligence findings indicating potential Russian sabotage using a drone led to the temporary elevation of the security level at the NATO air base in Geilenkirchen near the city of Aachen last week, German security sources told dpa on Monday.
There had been a serious tip-off from a foreign intelligence service “about preparatory actions for a likely Russian sabotage act against the NATO base using a drone,” security sources told dpa.
Last Thursday, due to a potential threat at the NATO base in the western state of North Rhine Westphalia, the security alert level was raised to the second-highest level, Charlie, for nearly 24 hours.
After nothing happened, security measures were rolled back on Friday afternoon to the level that had previously applied, the so-called Level Bravo+. This was a precautionary measure to minimize the potential risk to personnel, explained a spokesman.
Due to the intelligence tip-off, all non-essential staff had been sent home. According to the spokesman, flight operations were not interrupted but continued as normal.
The second-highest security level, Charlie, means in NATO jargon that an incident has occurred or there is information that some form of terrorist action against the alliance is likely.
Special aircraft are stationed in Geilenkirchen, currently used primarily for monitoring airspace in the eastern alliance area. With their mushroom-shaped radar setup, they can locate and identify…
