Plane near drone found at German airport was carrying ammunition, media reports say

Frankfurt: A Ukrainian cargo aircraft parked near an explosive-laden drone found at Germany's Leipzig/Halle airport on Tuesday night was carrying a payload of military ammunition, a group of news outlets including Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported ‌on Thursday.

Forensic experts ⁠found ⁠that the explosives attached to the drone were of a high military grade, said the joint report, which ​was also carried by broadcasters NDR and WDR and cited a confidential police report. Those findings potentially raise the ​stakes in a widening counterterrorism investigation of the incident at an airport serving as a major cargo and military logistics hub that the German government has designated as critical infrastructure.

Also read: Drone with explosive device found at German airport, detonator removed


German Interior ​Minister Alexander Dobrindt said late on Wednesday that the drone ⁠incident constituted ‌a hybrid attack and an elevated level of danger. Police in the ​state of Saxony, ​where Leipzig/Halle is located, did not immediately respond to a request ⁠for comment on the media reports of the Ukrainian aircraft's military ​payload.

German authorities, meanwhile, said on Thursday they were continuing the search ​for debris of an unidentified object that damaged another freight jet mid-air near Leipzig airport on the same night.

INCIDENTS DISRUPT ONE OF GERMANY'S MAIN LOGISTICS HUBS

The drone was found close to several Ukrainian Antonov An-124 cargo airplanes, among the world's biggest freighters, according to earlier media reports. The cargo jet that struck the unidentified object was performing a go-around due to ‌the closure of one of the airport's runways. It was lightly damaged in the collision and eventually landed in Hanover in northern Germany.

Flights were suspended ​and several ​aircraft, including some operated by ⁠German logistics group DHL, were diverted late on Tuesday.

Also read: Flights at German airport disrupted after suspect objects sighted

A spokesperson for Leipzig/Halle airport, which is also used by companies like Lufthansa Cargo and Amazon.com , said on Thursday that operations were back ​to normal and no additional security measures had been implemented. While German authorities have said the perpetrators of the incidents at the airport had not yet been identified, Roderich Kiesewetter, a lawmaker and a member of the parliamentary intelligence committee, blamed Russia directly.

The Russian Embassy in Berlin did not respond to an emailed request for comment from Reuters.