US Reopens Airspace Over El Paso Following Claim of Cartel Drone Infiltration

US Aviation Authorities Reopen El Paso Airspace After Brief Closure

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced that the airspace over El Paso, Texas, has been reopened after a brief closure due to an alleged drone incursion from a Mexican cartel. The FAA initially closed the airspace on Tuesday night and kept it shut until early Wednesday morning.

According to the FAA, all flights will resume as normal. The agency stated that there is no threat to commercial aviation and that the temporary closure was lifted.

The Trump administration had previously claimed that the drone incursion was a result of a Mexican cartel’s operation in US airspace. However, the Mexican government has not confirmed this incident.

Anonymous US officials have suggested that the sudden airspace closure may have been caused by the US military’s tests of its laser-based counter-drone system near El Paso. Additionally, there have been reports of a party balloon being misidentified as a drone and shot down earlier in the week.

The Trump administration has frequently referred to criminal groups operating in Mexico as a threat to US national security. The administration has designated cartels across Latin America as “foreign terrorist organisations” and has authorized military strikes against boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.

El Paso is one of the largest cities in Texas, located on the banks of the Rio Grande River directly across from Ciudad Juarez in Mexico. The city’s airspace closure was a rare event, and its reopening has raised questions about the legitimacy of the drone claims.

The FAA’s statement on social media read: “The temporary closure of airspace over El Paso has been lifted. There is no threat to commercial aviation. All flights will resume as normal.”

Source: Al Jazeera