NATO base in Germany on alert for ‘potential threat’

An attack might be “highly likely,” the AWACS facility in Geilenkirchen has said

The facility in Geilenkirchen, Germany that hosts special NATO radar planes has raised its security level due to an intelligence warning about a potential threat.

Geilenkirchen, located near the German-Dutch border, is home to the NATO AWACS (airborne early warning and control systems) force, which became operational in 1988.

“We raised the security level at NATO Airbase Geilenkirchen based on intelligence information indicating potential threat,” the base said on its X (formerly Twitter) account on Thursday evening. 

“All non-mission essential staff have been sent home as a precautionary measure,” the base added. “Operations continue as planned.”

The base has gone on threat level Charlie, a spokesperson told Reuters. This means there has either been an incident, or intelligence, indicating that some kind of terrorist attack is “highly likely.”

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Potential breach detected at military base of NATO member

Geilenkirchen reported an attempted trespassing incident last week that triggered a full security sweep at the base. On the same day, the German air force base of Cologne-Wahn was put on lockdown as authorities investigated reports about water supply contamination. Test results later showed no issues with tap water, however.

On Thursday, the authorities launched an investigation after unidentified drones were seen flying over critical infrastructure in the northern part of the country. 

NATO has ramped up warnings about possible sabotage by Russia in recent months, even as it increased the supply of weapons, ammunition and equipment to Ukraine. The US and its allies have insisted that propping up Kiev does not make them a party to the conflict against Moscow, shrugging off Russia’s repeated warnings to that effect.