US officials detected unidentified drones above an army base in Washington where US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth live, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing three people briefed on the situation. The officials have not determined where the drones came from, the report said, citing two of the sources.
But the drones’ detection comes as the US military is monitoring potential threats more closely because of a heightened alert level over the US-Israeli war with Iran, the report said. Since the beginning of the war on February 28, Iran has retaliated with missile and drone barrages at Israel and countries across the region.
The drones’ sighting over Fort McNair prompted officials to weigh relocating Rubio and Hegseth, the report said. However, the secretaries have not moved, the report added, citing a senior administration official. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the incident, said it occurred within the past 10 days, and that multiple drones were detected on the same night.
According to the report, officials locked down facilities twice this week at another base, the MacDill Air Force Base, home to US Central Command, which is responsible for US military operations against Iran, due to a suspicious package and an unspecified incident. The Pentagon and the US State Department did not respond to requests for comment. Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell declined to discuss the drones with the Washington Post. “The department cannot comment on [Hegseth’s] movements for security reasons, and reporting on such movements is grossly irresponsible,” he told the Post. (Source)
