Security was stepped up temporarily at a NATO air base in Germany because of a 'potential threat'

BERLIN -- The security level at a NATO air base in western Germany was raised temporarily because of intelligence information pointing to a “potential threat,” but was reduced again on Friday, the alliance said.

An announcement late Thursday night of the increase in the security level at the Geilenkirchen base didn't elaborate on the nature of the potential threat, but said that all staff not essential to missions had been sent home as a precaution. It said operations continued as planned.

The Geilenkirchen air base, near the border with the Netherlands, is where the alliance's Airborne Warning and Control System, or AWACS, surveillance aircraft are stationed.

On Friday afternoon, a post on the NATO AWACS fleet's X account said that the security level had returned to its previous level. It said the temporary rise was “a precautionary measure."

“All scheduled operations are proceeding as planned,” it added.

German news agency dpa said that a reporter saw police cars on and around the grounds of the air base. Police confirmed a deployment Thursday night, but gave no details.

Last week, a major German air force base near Cologne was locked down for several hours amid fears that its water supply might have been tampered with. An investigation found no evidence of such sabotage. There were also reports of suspicious observations at Geilenkirchen, and a person was briefly detained for questioning near the base, dpa reported at the time, but there turned out to be nothing untoward.

The incidents come at a time of jitters about the possible vulnerability of infrastructure to attempted Russian sabotage.

On Thursday, prosecutors in Flensburg, in Germany's far north, said they were investigating suspected 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.