Germany to say who's behind attempted airport drone attack soon, says Merz

The German government will soon announce who is responsible for an attempted drone attack on Leipzig/Halle airport earlier this month, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a coalition summit, Merz said his government was "working closely with the security authorities on this, and we will set this out and comment on it shortly."

Security sources cited by local media suspect the involvement of Russian intelligence in the attempted attack, but Berlin has not made any direct accusations.

On August 4, an explosives-laden drone was discovered near a Ukrainian Antonov cargo aircraft used for military supplies. Investigators suspect a second drone collided with a DHL cargo plane soon after the airport's temporary shutdown.

The airport is a cargo and military logistics hub used by NATO and Ukraine's Antonov Airlines for military supplies.

German investigators discovered a third drone and suspected explosives linked to the attempted attack 10 days later, broadcasters NDR and WDR and the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper said on Tuesday.

The drone was found to the west of the airport, where investigators also discovered about 50 grams (1.8 oz) of a substance they suspected to be the military explosive hexogen, the media reports said.

The office of the prosecutor general declined to comment on the report. Moscow has denied any involvement in the incident.

(Writing by Friederike Heine; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Miranda Murray)