Security was raised at a NATO airbase in Germany after intelligence information warned of a ‘potential threat’.
Staff not essential to missions were sent home from the Geilenkirchen air base, which lies in North Rhine-Westphalia, near the border with the Netherlands, the base said.
The base posted a statement on its X account last night stating it had ‘raised the security level’.
It said:’The safety of our staff is our top priority. Operations continue as planned.’
A spokesperson for the base said the threat level had been raised to Charlie, the second-highest of four states of alert, which is defined as ‘an incident (that) has occurred or intelligence has been received indicating that some form of terrorist action against NATO organisations or personnel is highly likely’.
The airbase is home to the alliance’s AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) surveillance planes.
German news agency dpa said a reporter saw police cars on the grounds of the air base.
This morning police confirmed they attended last night night but offered no more information.
The base also raised the security level last week, after a military base in nearby Cologne was temporarily sealed off while authorities looked into whether someone had tampered with the water supply and contaminated it.
But the investigation found no contamination or evidence of sabotage.
The same day, the base in Geilenkirchen also reported an attempted trespassing incident that led to a full sweep of the premises and a person being briefly held for questioning.
However, nothing suspicious was discovered.
NATO has previously accused Russia of a campaign of hostile activities, including acts of sabotage and cyberattacks.
In June, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the Western military alliance saw a pattern evolving and that recent attacks were a result of Russian intelligence becoming more active.
Russia, meanwhile, regularly accuses NATO of threatening its security.
On Thursday, prosecutors in Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein, which lies in Germany’s far north, said they were investigating suspicions of espionage for the purpose of sabotage, without elaborating on who might be behind it.
German media reported that drones had been spotted over a chemical park in Brunsbuettel, on the North Sea coast.
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