TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The roar of jet engines from military drills awakened Taipei and New Taipei residents early on Tuesday (April 12).

Some residents of Greater Taipei took to social media to complain about the sound of fighter jet engines that morning. During a press conference, Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Sun Li-fang (孫立方) explained that the noise had been caused by military exercises held from 5 to 7 a.m.

Sun explained that as part of the Lien Hsiang (聯翔) drills, F-16 fighter jets, Indigenous Defense Fighters (IDF), and AH-64E Apache helicopters had been deployed to rehearse the rapid response to a simulated attack by Chinese warplanes.

According to Sun, the exercises were held so early in the morning to avoid interfering with civil aviation operations. He said that the drill is an important part of training to counter an attack by the People's Liberation Army Air Force.

One member of the Facebook group dedicated to Taipei's Xinyi District (信義區三兩事) at 6:50 a.m. morning posted video in which the dull roar of jet engines could be heard in the distance and asked if anyone had captured footage of the aircraft. Another at 6:23 a.m. wrote "Why are fighter planes flying so early in the morning? Are the Russian fighter jets flying over?"

(Facebook, 信義區三兩事 screenshot)