DANGER BELOW

Two U.S. Airmen Injured by Chinese Military Lasers

The Pentagon has issued a formal diplomatic complaint and asked the Chinese to investigate incidents in Djibouti.

The Chinese military is targeting American flight crews flying over Djibouti with “a high-powered laser,” Pentagon officials told the Wall Street Journal. The number of laser-related incidents has risen in the past several weeks, and two Americans that were piloting a C-130 recently sustained minor eye injuries from being “exposed to the laser beam.” The military “issued an internal notice...to warn pilots of the potential risks” and telling them to use “extreme caution,” the Journal reported. The Pentagon suspects that the laser attacks are coming from a Chinese base “about 8 miles from the American base” in the African country, according tot he report. “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 said.