A NATO radar plane base in Geilenkirchen, Germany has raised its security level due to an intelligence warning about a potential threat.
Located near the German-Dutch border, the base 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 announced 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 threat level at the base has been raised to Charlie, a spokesperson told Reuters. This is the second-highest of four states of alert, and means there has either been an incident, or intelligence, indicating that some kind of terrorist attack is “highly likely.”
Geilenkirchen reported an attempted trespassing incident last week that triggered a full security sweep at the base. On the same day, the Wahn barracks, which serve the military part of Cologne Bonn Airport, were put on lockdown as authorities investigated reports that the water supply had been contaminated. Test results later showed no issues with the 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 has increased its supply of weapons, ammunition and equipment to Ukraine. The US and its allies have insisted that provisioning Kiev does not make them a party to the conflict, shrugging off Russia’s repeated insistence otherwise.