KITTERY – Coast Guard and U.S. Navy patrol boats are conducting a three-day training exercise at the mouth of the Piscataqua River between Maine and New Hampshire.

Operation Citadel featured boats firing weapons but they were blanks – not real bullets. The training began Tuesday and wraps up Thursday.

Officials said the exercise is part of routine training for Navy harbor security forces and is not in direct response to any threat.

Officials say gunfire can be heard from communities on shore including Rye, New Castle and Portsmouth in New Hampshire.

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