2024-08-25 23:39:29
German Armed Forces
Bundeswehr gives all-clear after suspected sabotage
Updated on 16.08.2024Reading time: 3 min.
Did unknown persons contaminate the drinking water at the Cologne-Wahn air force barracks? This was a suspicion. It has now been dispelled.
The suspicion of sabotage of the drinking water supply at the Cologne-Wahn air force barracks has been dispelled. Tests of the drinking water revealed no abnormalities, as the Bundeswehr Territorial Command in Berlin announced. “No violations of the limit values of the German Drinking Water Ordinance were found. The water can be used again.” A similar suspicion in Mechernich in North Rhine-Westphalia has now largely been given the all-clear.
According to the German army, a technical alarm sounded early on Wednesday morning at a drinking water system in the barracks in Cologne-Wahn. The personnel called to the scene noticed a person at the pump house who quickly moved away from the fence. Damage was found on the fence.
The barracks’ own drinking water system is located in the immediate vicinity of the site. Manipulation of this system could not be ruled out. As a precaution, the barracks’ water treatment system was deactivated and samples taken. The rapid tests confirmed values in the water that deviated from the norm, but did not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the quality and quantity of the contamination.
The German army temporarily closed the barracks. While the supply of fresh water was interrupted, the soldiers were provided with water canisters. According to police, the investigation was initially launched into trespassing against an unknown person. State security was also called in, it was reported.
In Mechernich in the Euskirchen district, it was also discovered that a fence on the site of the drinking water reservoir had been cut through. However, investigations by a special fire service unit showed that the water was not biologically or chemically contaminated, said a city spokesman.
Citizens are allowed to use it again for showering and washing. The water should be boiled as a precautionary measure before drinking, he said. It will continue to be tested for bacterial contamination, which will take some time.
The Mechernich health authority initially warned against using the drinking water. It said it could be contaminated in a way that was hazardous to health. According to the information, 10,000 people were affected by the warning. The German army base in Mechernich also gets its water from the raised tank.
The former president of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), Gerhard Schindler, warned against hysteria. He referred to the war in Ukraine and said that such a conflict was not only a military conflict, but also an information war. “This is the hour for espionage and sabotage. It is clear that we must be more vigilant, but we should also be level-headed and not spread hysteria,” he said on Deutschlandfunk.
The former BND chief pointed out that critical infrastructure cannot be monitored and protected 100 percent. At the same time, he stressed that Russia sees sabotage as a module of warfare – “and if the military situation worsens, they have no qualms about carrying out sabotage actions in Germany.” In this respect, vigilance is required.
In addition, damage was found on a gate at the Bundeswehr’s Christoph Probst barracks in Garching near Munich. The damage to a side gate was discovered during an inspection on Thursday, said a spokesman for the Bundeswehr’s Territorial Command in Berlin. Business Insider had previously reported.
There is no indication that anyone has gained access to buildings on the barracks grounds, the spokesman added. There is also currently no connection with the initially suspected sabotage of the drinking water supply at the Cologne-Wahn air force barracks. The spokesman did not initially provide any further details about the incident. The investigations in Garching are ongoing.