Nato base evacuated after imminent attack warning

Alert raised to second highest level at the station in Germany following unconfirmed tip-off by American intelligence

Nato staff were instructed to leave an air base in Germany after intel suggested an attack could be imminent.
The alert level was raised to the second highest level, code-named Charlie, at the air base in the town of Geilenkirchen on Thursday evening.
The military alliance described the move as a “precautionary measure” without giving further details.
Non-essential staff were sent home, with Nato stating that “the safety of our staff is our top priority”.
The alliance said that normal operations were continuing “as planned” at the air base, which houses the alliance’s airborne early warning and control force.
According to unconfirmed reports in the German media, the tip-off came from an American intelligence agency.
Charlie is the second highest of four levels of alert meaning “an incident [that] has occurred or intelligence has been received indicating that some form of terrorist action against Nato organisations or personnel is highly likely”.
Police vehicles were seen entering the base on Thursday, with officers in the city of Cologne confirming they have opened an investigation into the incident.
Described as Nato’s “eyes in the sky”, the airborne early warning and control force is made up of 14 specially-built Boeing 707 planes that patrol the military alliance’s air space.
The planes also operate as flying command and control centres during exercises.
It is the second time this month that the base near the Dutch border has raised its alert level.
A week ago the base was closed off because of fears that its water supply could have been intentionally contaminated.
Police looked into suspicions of water contamination at several military bases in Germany, including at a nearby army base in Cologne. But tests came back negative and the base was reopened.
Police opened an investigation into espionage in northern Germany after several drones were spotted flying at high speeds over critical infrastructure on the coast of the North Sea.
Over the past few days, drones have been spotted flying at speeds of around 60 miles per hour over an industrial park in the town of Brunsbüttel that houses an LNG terminal and a disused nuclear power plant.
The air space above the park is a no-fly zone because of the nuclear power plant.
According to a report by Bild newspaper, prosecutors believe that the drones were Russian-built Orlan-10 drones, which have a range of over 300 miles and could have been deployed from civilian shipping in the North Sea.
In May, Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s secretary general, warned that Russia had increased its subterfuge efforts, saying that “we have seen several arrests across the alliance of people accused of arson and sabotage”.
Incidents being treated as suspicious include a fire at a shopping centre in Poland’s capital Warsaw and suspected arson at an Ikea store in Lithuania.
In Germany, several suspected Russian spies have been detained in recent months.
In April, two men were arrested on suspicion of planning to set off an explosion at a military or industrial site in an attempt to destabilise Germany’s support for the Ukrainian military.