This move was initiated to possibly shoot down Iranian drones as intelligence mounted about a threat of an imminent attack against US targets, two US officials tell CNN.

The alert reflects the heightened tensions between the US and Iran in the wake of last week’s US drone strike that killed a top Iranian general, Qasem Soleimani.

US officials have claimed the strike against the general was carried out to prevent an “imminent” attack in the region that would have put American lives at risk, but have so far declined to provide details about the intelligence.

US intelligence also has observed Iran moving military equipment, including drones and ballistic missiles, over the last several days.

US officials said the movement may be an Iranian effort to secure its weapons from a potential US strike, or put them in positions to launch their own attacks.

“There were indications that we needed to monitor the threats” even more closely than is already being done, one of the US officials said, referring to Monday night’s state of heightened alert.

The second official described it as “all Patriot batteries and forces in the area on high alert” against an “imminent attack threat.”

According to reports, escaping from prison in 2002, Song Jiang, who is 63 years old, was being held for trafficking women and children. His arrest was announced on Friday by Yongshan police.

Song Jiang had been taking shelter in a tiny cave cut off from human interaction for years, the BBC reported.

However, in a bid to find him out, a search by the police with drones spotted a blue-colored steel tile on a steep cliff and household trash that was strewn nearby, according to the BBC.

Yongshan Police travelled the spot on foot and found Jiang on September 19, Sky News reported.

The news outlet also reported that he had been in seclusion right up in the mountains and behind his home in Yunnan Province for so long that it was difficult for him to talk with the officers.

Police deployed the drones after getting a tip about Jiang’s whereabouts.

Police, Jiang, Sky News, Yongshan Police, China, Drone, Cave, Fugitive, Song Jiang