The US ends recovery operations for the debris of the downed Chinese balloon ‘Ami’ | World news
AFP | | Posted by Ritu Maria Johny
The United States has completed the search for debris from a Chinese surveillance balloon it allegedly shot down earlier this month, the military’s Northern Command said Friday.
“Recovery operations ended on March 16 off the coast of South Carolina, after US Navy assets assigned to US Northern Command successfully located and recovered debris from a high-altitude PRC surveillance balloon,” NORTHCOM said in a statement, referring to the People’s Republic of China. .
“The final pieces of debris were taken to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Virginia for intelligence disposal,” he added.
The balloon traveled across the United States before being shot down over the Atlantic Ocean by a US F-22 Raptor on February 4.
Beijing insists the device is for weather surveillance and that it has been hijacked, while Washington describes it as a high-altitude spy vehicle.
Relations between China and the United States have grown increasingly strained over the balloon incident.
US jets also fired three unidentified objects in the following days, but Washington has said preliminary evidence suggests those objects are not involved in a broader Chinese spy program.
