A man has reportedly attacked a US military plane with a hatchet in Ireland. As reported by the New York Post, the incident happened in County Clare's Shannon Airport on Saturday, April 11.
The incident involved a C210 Hercules military transport plane. The plane is estimated to be valued at $75 million. The plane was apparently carrying weapons destined for Israel.
The 40-year-old attacker snuck into restricted space at the airport before climbing onto the wing of the plane and "hacking away" at the wing and fuselage. This caused "extensive damage" to the plane.
The incident caused Shannon Airport to be closed for over half an hour. The Irish Garda Síochána arrested the man after using mobile stairs to reach him. As well as the Garda, airport officials, the fire and rescue service, and the Irish Defense Forces were all present at the scene.
Shannon Airport is a site that the US military has been using to inspect military planes. They have used the airport ever since the Iraq War for refuel and transit.
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The Motive Behind the Man's Hatchet Attack Isn't Known
At the moment, no clear motive behind the attack has been released. However, people have made speculations. Anti-war activists don't agree with the presence of US military planes within a civilian airport. The fact that the US is using the airport to transport weapons has also led to negative sentiments from Irish anti-war protestors.
A USAFE-AFAFRICA spokesperson confirmed to the outlet that "the aircraft was en route to support bilateral Polish exercise Hussar Saber 26-1." They added that "details of damage will not be released for operational security" and also that "no personnel were injured".
The Gardaí have released a statement about the incident confirming that the man was arrested. "An adult male was arrested for alleged criminal damage by Gardaí shortly before 11am... (He) is currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 in a Garda Station in the Clare Tipperary Division."
Investigations are still ongoing, so more information will likely be released soon. We are glad that no one has been injured in the incident.
