Muhamad Yehia
Personnel working at the Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily were instructed to take shelter where they were.
A US naval air base in Italy had to be locked down briefly on Wednesday due a “security incident”, the US Navy has confirmed.
Naval Air Station Sigonella, a major hub for NATO operations in the Mediterranean, told its service members to stay where they were on Wednesday morning.
In a post on the site’s official Facebook account, staff at the base in Sicily were told to avoid travelling between a housing complex and part of the base.
Several hours later, a new post said the alert had ended at around 11:25 CET
A statement from the base said that Italian police and bomb squad members inspected a suspicious package and ultimately “determined it was not a threat
“We are grateful to our Navy Security Force personnel for their quick response,” the base said on Facebook.
US Navy Lieutenant Andrea Perez, a spokesperson at the base, confirmed that there had been no injuries, adding that more details of the incident would be released on Wednesday
NAS Sigonella is outside of Catania on the island of Sicily. American personnel work there to identify possible missile threats in the region.
The base also hosts US Navy P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance planes and MQ-4C Triton drones.