{"id":67581,"date":"2026-08-06T03:36:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T03:36:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/67581\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T03:36:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T03:36:26","slug":"explosive-drone-at-german-airport-raises-new-danger-minister-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/67581\/","title":{"rendered":"Explosive drone at German airport raises new danger, minister says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Berlin, Germany
Reuters<\/a><\/p>\n

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the explosive-laden drone found near a runway at Leipzig\/Halle airport overnight was a hybrid attack which opened a new level of danger.<\/p>\n

Germany opened a counterterrorism investigation on Wednesday after the drone prompted the closure of parts of one of Europe\u2019s biggest cargo hubs.<\/p>\n

\"\"
A police officer in protective clothing walks next to an explosive-disarming robot (EOD) at Leipzig\/Halle Airport in Schkeuditz, Germany, on 5th August, 2026, after the police said explosives experts examined a drone found near a runway, and after a DHL cargo aircraft hit an unknown object as it was climbing away from the airport overnight, prompting an unscheduled landing in Hanover, according to a source familiar with the incident. PICTURE: Reuters\/Axel Schmidt<\/p>\n

\u201cDrone sightings and drone threats in a hybrid context are something we have known from the past, but a drone armed with explosives being present on airport grounds is a new threat scenario,\u201d Dobrindt said, after an emergency meeting with the heads of Germany\u2019s security services on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

Airport workers discovered the drone in a restricted cargo area near the southern runway overnight. Flights were suspended and several aircraft, including some owned by German logistics firm DHL, were diverted.<\/p>\n

Authorities said there had been no danger to passengers or airport staff and most operations resumed by morning after one runway was reopened.<\/p>\n

All speculation about the explosives, the drone, its origin, and who is behind it, is now part of the investigation, the interior minister said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is part of the nature of hybrid threats that it is not always immediately clear where they originate,\u201d Dobrindt said.<\/p>\n

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Diverted plane hits unidentified object
Investigators were also examining what a cargo plane had struck in the air after being diverted from the airport in eastern Germany during the disruption.<\/p>\n

Minor damage was discovered after it landed in Hanover, authorities said. A source familiar with the incident said the plane belonged to DHL.<\/p>\n

The southern runway of the airport, a major hub for DHL and Ukraine\u2019s Antonov Airlines, remained closed while explosives experts examined the drone and removed its detonator, according to authorities.<\/p>\n

Latest in a series of drone threats
German airports are on high alert after a series of unauthorised drone overflights at sites including military facilities, energy terminals, seaports and logistics companies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is happening now also shows that the assessment made months ago \u2013 that we are dealing with a high level of danger \u2013 was justified,\u201d Dobrindt told reporters.<\/p>\n

\"\"
A DHL cargo plane and Ukrainian Antonov cargo planes at Leipzig\/Halle Airport in Schkeuditz, Germany, on 5th August, 2026, after the police said explosives experts examined a drone found near a runway, and after a DHL cargo aircraft hit an unknown object as it was climbing away from the airport overnight, prompting an unscheduled landing in Hanover, according to a source familiar with the incident. PICTURE: Reuters\/Axel Schmidt<\/p>\n

Federal police have said the overflights could have been organised by Russian agents.<\/p>\n

Germany\u2019s Bild newspaper reported that the Leipzig drone had been found lying in the immediate vicinity of a Ukrainian Antonov cargo plane. The airline has used Leipzig\/Halle as an operating base since Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion in 2022.<\/p>\n

Anti-extremism prosecutors and counterterrorism officers took over the investigation after experts confirmed the drone was carrying explosives.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch threat situations are not carried out by amateurs, but must be prepared very professionally and executed professionally,\u201d Dobrindt told reporters.<\/p>\n

European security agencies have been investigating a series of incendiary devices concealed in parcels that caught fire in 2024, raising concerns about sabotage of air cargo operators.<\/p>\n

Some of the devices were found at a DHL warehouse in Leipzig and in freight shipments in transit across Europe.<\/p>\n

An Interior Ministry spokesperson said no connection with Tuesday night\u2019s incident could be determined at this stage.<\/p>\n

Russia has denied any involvement in the 2024 incidents and the more recent overflights.<\/p>\n

\u2013 With reporting by FRIEDERIKE HEINE, MARKUS WACKET, MIRANDA MURRAY and MARIA MARTINEZ in Berlin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Berlin, GermanyReuters German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the explosive-laden drone found near a runway at Leipzig\/Halle airport…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67582,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[406,50404,21072,421,5,49861,19889],"class_list":["post-67581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-germany","tag-alexander-dobrindt","tag-antonov-airlines","tag-dhl","tag-drones","tag-germany","tag-leipzig-halle-airport","tag-ukraine-conflict"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}