Taiwan troops fire on Chinese drone intruding over outer island for 1st time | Taiwan News

 

 As Taiwan's military had warned on Sunday (Aug. 28), troops fired live ammunition on a Chinese drone that failed to heed warnings as it flew over an outer island on Tuesday (Aug. 30).

The Army's Kinmen Defense Command (KDC) at 9 p.m. on Tuesday stated that starting from 4:23 p.m. that afternoon, three batches of three "civilian" drones each were detected flying over Dadan Island, Erdan Island, and Shi Islet, respectively in Kinmen County's Lieyu Township. After being warned by Taiwanese soldiers with signal flares, the UAVs flew away from the islands and in the direction of China's Xiamen.

At 5:59 p.m., another drone entered the airspace over the restricted waters of Erdan Island again. Taiwanese troops again issued warnings in accordance with procedures.

 However, because the drone continued to circle over the island, soldiers "fired defensive shots to drive away" the aircraft. The UAV then flew away in the direction of China's Xiamen at 6 p.m. and the KDC will "continue to maintain vigilance and closely monitor the situation."

This action is consistent with a warning issued by the KDC on Sunday that it would shoot down intruding Chinese drones that fail to heed warnings. On Monday (Aug. 29), the KDC stated that it would carry out a four-step process in dealing with the drones that would include "firing signal flares, reporting the intrusion, driving the drone out, and shooting it down."

This appears to be the first time that the KDC has reported firing live ammunition on Chinese drones.