A US military laser mistakenly shot down a government drone near the Mexican border, prompting airspace closure and a political backlash.
WASHINGTON: The US military mistakenly shot down a government drone with a laser near the Mexican border.
The incident prompted the immediate closure of nearby airspace and drew sharp criticism from Democratic lawmakers.
The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) drone was shot down over a small town near El Paso, Texas, according to the New York Times.
The newspaper cited anonymous sources who were not authorised to speak publicly about the event.
The CBP had not notified the Pentagon of the drone’s launch in the area.
Furthermore, the military’s laser was used without approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The FAA issued a notice temporarily closing airspace around Fort Hancock, citing “special security reasons”.
Democratic lawmakers swiftly demanded an investigation into the strike.
Representatives Rick Larsen, Bennie Thompson and Andre Carson slammed the Trump administration’s “incompetence” and “lack of coordination”.
“Our heads are exploding over the news that DoD reportedly shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone,” they said in a joint statement.
The Pentagon, CBP and FAA issued a joint statement acknowledging the error.
They said the engagement occurred when the Department of War acted to “mitigate a seemingly threatening unmanned aerial system”.
The Department of War is the Trump administration’s rebrand of the Department of Defense.
The agencies pledged to “work on increased cooperation and communication to prevent such incidents in the future”.
This error follows a similar incident this month where a party balloon was mistakenly shot down near the southern border.
