WASHINGTON—The United States formally complained to China after Chinese nationals pointed lasers at U.S. military aircraft near Djibouti in recent weeks, the Pentagon said on May 3, an account which China has denied.
Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa, hosts a U.S. military base that is home to about 4,000 personnel, including special operations forces, and is a launch pad for operations in Yemen and Somalia.
The U.S. military has been grappling with lasers being pointed at aircraft for decades. However, the Pentagon accusations highlight the concern the United States has about a Chinese military base just miles from a critical U.S. base in Djibouti.
“They are very serious incidents ... We have formally démarched the Chinese government and we’ve requested the Chinese investigate these incidents,” Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White told reporters.
White said the Pentagon was confident the lasers had been pointed by Chinese nationals and in the past few weeks upwards of 10 incidents had taken place. The intent was unclear.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that in one incident last month, two pilots in a C-130 suffered minor eye injuries.
The official said in a few instances, military-grade lasers from the Chinese base had been pointed at aircraft.
Both China’s defense and foreign ministries claimed the U.S. accusations were false.
Djibouti is strategically located at the southern entrance to the Red Sea on the route to the Suez Canal.
This year, the U.S. military put countering China, along with Russia, at the center of a new national defense strategy.
By Idrees Ali
