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NATO air base in Germany raises security level due to 'potential threat'

by Reuters

   berlin --

   The NATO air base in the German town of Geilenkirchen has raised its
   security level "based on intelligence information indicating a
   potential threat," it said late Thursday.

   "All non-mission essential staff have been sent home as a precautionary
   measure," the base said in a statement on the social media platform X,
   without giving details. "The safety of our staff is our top priority.
   Operations continue as planned."

   A spokesperson for the base in Geilenkirchen 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 organizations or personnel is highly likely."

   It was the second time the base housing NATO's fleet of AWACS
   surveillance planes raised the security level after an incident last
   week when a military base in nearby Cologne was temporarily sealed off
   as authorities investigated possible sabotage of the water supply.

   The same day, the base in Geilenkirchen also reported an attempted
   trespassing incident that prompted a full sweep of the premises.

   With regard to the suspected sabotage at the base in Cologne, the
   German military later gave the all-clear, saying test results had shown
   that the tap water was not contaminated.

   NATO has warned in the past of a campaign of hostile activities staged
   by Russia, including acts of sabotage and cyberattacks. Russia has
   regularly accused NATO of threatening its security.

   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.

   Several incidents on NATO territory have been treated as suspicious by
   analysts in recent years, among them the severance of a vital undersea
   cable connecting Svalbard to mainland Norway in 2022.

   Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson
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