Dutch military opens fire on unidentified drones over Volkel air base
The Dutch military opened fire on drones spotted over Volkel Air Base on Friday night, according to the Ministry of Defense and the Koninklijke Marechaussee, the Dutch military police. This marks one of two recent security incidents involving unidentified flying devices in sensitive locations.
Guards at the Noord-Brabant air base reported drones between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Ground-based weapons were used to bring the drones down, but the devices left the area and were not found. The ministry declined to say how the drones were detected or which weapons were used, citing security reasons.
Drones are banned above airports and military bases in the Netherlands.
A spokesperson for the Koninklijke Marechaussee, which is investigating the case with police, confirmed that officers fired at the drones but said the number of devices involved is unknown.
The Volkel incident followed another large-scale drone sighting earlier in the week, when a significant number of drones flew over the port area of Terneuzen on Monday evening.
Additional sightings have been reported near the NATO command center in Brunssum, at Maastricht Aachen Airport, and at Schiphol. Similar incidents have also occurred recently in Germany and Belgium.
The National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security described the rising number of unexplained drone sightings as worrying.
Reporting by ANP and NL Times
