Drones were again spotted over the Volkel military airbase on Saturday night, the defence ministry has confirmed to broadcaster NOS.

The incident marks the third time drones have been seen this weekend. On Saturday they were spotted over Eindhoven airport, forcing it to close for a time, and on Friday evening up to 10 drones were also seen above Volkel.

The drones are small – “the sort you buy in MediaMarkt” – junior defence minister Gijs Tuinman told television talk show WNL op Zondag. It is illegal to fly drones close to military operations and airfields in the Netherlands.

Tuinman declined to say what sort of weapons the armed forces used in an effort to bring down the drones or chase them off. He also declined to speculate who was behind the flights, apart from saying “everything is possible”.

They could have been flown by people who did not know what they were doing was illegal, by criminals or by youngsters who are being used by people with “malicious intent”, Tuinman told the programme.

Unknown drones have been spotted over airports and military sites in Belgium, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Romania, Norway and Denmark in recent weeks.