US military shot down party balloon near El Paso after drone suspicion, official says
A U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that the U.S. military earlier this week shot down what was later determined to be a party balloon near El Paso, Texas, after initially assessing it as a possible foreign drone.
The misidentification eventually led to a total shutdown of airspace around the El Paso airport.
A separate U.S. administration official had told Fox News that Mexican cartel drones breached U.S. airspace near El Paso and that counter-drone measures were taken to disable them.
The Pentagon has been testing out new counter-drone technology, including a high-energy laser, near the Army base at Fort Bliss, Texas. That laser was used to shoot down what appeared to be foreign drones — and was later identified as a balloon — prompting the airspace closure by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), an official told Fox.
It's unclear whether the cartel drones were related.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said earlier Wednesday the FAA and Department of War had "acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion."
"The threat has been neutralized, and there is no danger to commercial travel in the region," he said.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday her government has no information indicating drone activity along the U.S.-Mexico border following the temporary airspace restriction in Texas that U.S. officials linked to counter-drone measures.
"We have no information indicating drone activity along the border," she said in a news conference. "If the FAA or any U.S. government agency has relevant information, they can ask directly the Government of Mexico."
She said Mexican airspace had not been closed.
"We will look into the specific reasons behind the temporary closure," she said.
"There’s no place for speculation," she said. "We will wait for the information and continue to uphold what we have consistently maintained: permanent, open communication."
The FAA temporarily restricted flights in and out of El Paso International Airport for what it described as "special security reasons" Wednesday morning. The restriction initially was valid for 10 days, through Feb. 20 — an unusually lengthy timeframe for airspace limitations affecting a major commercial airport.
PENTAGON EXPLORING COUNTER-DRONE SYSTEMS TO PREVENT INCURSIONS OVER NATIONAL SECURITY FACILITIES
Temporary flight restrictions are typically used for presidential travel, emergency response operations or specific, time-limited national security events. It is uncommon for such restrictions to be issued near a busy border airport absent a significant security concern.
Shortly after the restriction was put in place, however, the FAA and the Department of War reopened the airspace and determined "there is no threat to commercial travel," according to the administration official.
U.S. officials have warned in recent months that drug cartels increasingly are deploying unmanned aerial systems for surveillance, smuggling coordination and reconnaissance along the southern border.
The episode comes amid heightened cross-border security tensions as the Trump administration presses regional governments to intensify cooperation against drug cartels and fentanyl trafficking networks that U.S. officials describe as a direct homeland security threat.
Sheinbaum has rejected repeated U.S. offers to intervene and strike cartels on Mexican territory.
Recounting a conversation where Trump offered to help militarily in the fight against cartels, Sheinbaum said in January, "We told him, so far it’s going very well, it’s not necessary, and furthermore, there is Mexico’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and he understood."