Merz says Germany will name who is behind Leipzig airport explosive drones

According to investigators, the drone was apparently intended to land on the wings of the aircraft, which was filled with kerosene, but the explosive device did not detonate.

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This explosive also failed to detonate, but the investigators’ report, according to the media reports, stated: “The perpetrators may have had a far larger attack in mind than previously known to the public.”

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Close by and near where witnesses reported hearing a loud bang on the day of the incident, investigators discovered a burnt patch and charred metal parts.

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Leipzig/Halle Airport is used by the Germany military and Nato allies for the transport of military goods and also serves as a base for Ukraine's Antonov Airlines - which carry most of the country's aerial cargo.

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It is also a major hub for logistics group DHL.

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Police have warned that the overflights could have been organised by Russian agents.

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German counterterrorism authorities opened an investigation on Aug. 5 after an airport worker found a drone carrying an explosive device on which the detonator apparently failed.

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German counterterrorism authorities opened an investigation on Aug. 5 after an airport worker found a drone carrying an explosive device on which the detonator apparently failed.

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Merz's government is seeking to give more leeway to Germany's intelligence services to stymie threats from adversaries such as Russia.

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Spies working for Germany's foreign intelligence agency, the BND, could carry out acts of sabotage and conduct offensive cyber operations under proposed reforms.

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Germany's security "worsened significantly" since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a German intelligence report said last year.

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German police deployed a bomb disposal robot at the overnight into the 5 August after a drone was found on the tarmac near a Ukrainian cargo plane, sparking alarm and forcing the diversion of numerous flights.

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According to the Kyiv Independent news site, the suspicious object was destroyed in a controlled explosion.

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The Bild daily reported that the plane that collided with an unknown object mid-air was a DHL cargo aircraft that was hit about six kilometres away, sustaining minor damage on the nose that was discovered when it later landed safely at Hanover airport.

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Authorities in Germany, one of Ukraine's biggest military supporters, have said they suspect Russia of orchestrating many of the incidents as part of a campaign of sabotage, espionage and disinformation.

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Video footage from a local news agency showed the bomb disposal robot near an Antonov plane painted with the Ukrainian colours yellow and blue and with the words "Be Brave Like Kherson" written on the side, a reference to a Ukrainian region battered by Russian strikes.

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German police first reported on Wednesday morning that a "security-related incident" had temporarily halted flights to the airport.

"Shortly before midnight, an unidentified flying object was sighted near Leipzig-Halle Airport, prompting the diversion of several aircraft, including a passenger plane, to other airports", they said.

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A passenger plane from Mallorca as well as several cargo planes heading there had to be sent to other locations.

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In July 2024 a parcel burst into flames on the ground at Leipzig airport before it could be loaded onto a DHL cargo plane, part of what security services treated as a suspected Moscow-linked arson sabotage plot.

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Last year a Chinese national was convicted for passing on information about flight schedules and cargo movements at Leipzig-Halle airport to a man spying for Beijing.

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Incidents of unidentified drones flying in Germany's airspace are on the rise with the country's air navigation service DFS saying 144 drone overflights were logged last year, with 35 incidents clustered around Frankfurt Airport.

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In October last year, local media reported that a laser installation had been deployed near Munich airport to protect the facility from drone sightings.

That came after the airport was closed for two consecutive days over suspicious drone sightings.

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In November, flight operations at Berlin's Brandenburg Airport were interrupted for around two hours due to a drone sighting in its airspace.

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Auch Spuren eines militärischen Sprengstoffs wurden nahe dem Flughafengelände entdeckt.

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Der Verdacht richtet sich bisher gegen Russland, geklärt ist die Urheberschaft aber nicht.

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Die Ermittlungen hat das Bundeskriminalamt unter Federführung der Bundesanwaltschaft übernommen.

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Das Flugzeug prallte wohl auf der Höhe des Flughafenzauns mit einer Geschwindigkeit von mehreren Hundert Stundenkilometern mit der Drohne zusammen.

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Wenige Sekunden zuvor sollen die Piloten der Maschine ein etwa 30 Zentimeter großes Objekt gesehen haben.

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Den Medienberichten zufolge handelt es sich neben DNA-Spuren möglicherweise um eine Steuereinheit für die Drohnen.

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Laut einer Umfrage des Meinungsforschungsinstituts YouGov im Auftrag der Deutschen Presse-Agentur ist eine Mehrheit von 63 Prozent der Bundesbürger mit Blick auf diesen Vorfall besorgt.

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