British intelligence agencies, led by counter-terrorism police, are conducting a large-scale operation near Fairford airbase in southwest England, where American bombers are stationed. Five men have been arrested on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack and violating the Explosive Substances Act. Army engineers are examining several vehicles and dozens of families have been evacuated from the village of Welford since this morning.
Fairford Base is a permanent base for the US Air Force, and US bombers have been deployed there since the start of the war with Iran. Eyewitnesses had previously seen B-1 bombers behind its fence.
Army sappers are examining several vehicles. Footage taken from a helicopter shows that a special robot is used for this purpose. The police set up a cordon, and a large number of emergency services vehicles arrived at the scene. The involvement of multiple agencies meets the police definition of a "major incident." The police believe that the incident has been localized.
During the day, Gloucestershire Police Deputy Chief Constable Richard Ocon said at a brief press conference that on Sunday night at around 00:45 local time (23:45 September 26 GMT), police received a call about “three suspicious vehicles” heading towards Fairford Air Force Base.
In the morning, Gloucestershire Police reported that several men had been arrested on suspicion of breaching the Explosive Substances Act, but the exact number of those detained was not given at the time. Later, the counter-terrorism police clarified that the five arrested were also suspected of preparing a terrorist act.
Okon said that “work is ongoing to establish the full nature of the incident.” He noted that the police work closely with their partners in the fight against terrorism.
According to police, residents of 85 houses were evacuated. The cordon, which had been in place since early Sunday morning, has been extended to 400 meters to cover RAF Fairford. BBC correspondent Alastair McKee reports that all people were evacuated from the area around the airbase to a village further down the road. British military police are also involved in maintaining the cordon, a military source told the BBC.
One of the residents, who has lived in the area for 18 years, said that the police woke her up by knocking on her door at about seven in the morning and ordered her to immediately leave the house, not allowing her to take her dog with her.
Julian Tudsbury, who was evacuated from his home near Fairford base in the early hours of Sunday morning, reports that three "unusual vans" appeared in the area overnight. He claims that footage from doorbell cameras in the area after the evacuation showed "some kind of robots looking into the back of these vans."
A woman who has lived near the Fairford base for the past 50 years notes that security at the base has been increased in recent weeks.
She told the Press Association that "very heavy vehicles" were positioned at all gates and "huge concrete walls" were also erected behind some gates.
Situated on the Gloucestershire/Wiltshire border, RAF Fairford has long been used by the United States Air Force (USAF) as a forward operating location.
During the Cold War and later during the first Gulf War in 1991, the base was home to the U.S. Air Force's Strategic Air Command.
The US Air Force also deployed B-52 bombers from the base in 2003 to strike Iraq.
The base was last used on March 1, after then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer authorized US “defensive” operations against Iranian missile sites from the base. The British Ministry of Defense then described them as "defensive missions to destroy Iran's missile capabilities."
BBC weapons analyst Chris Partridge reports seeing B-52 bombers at the base earlier this year loaded with AGM-158 cruise missiles for precision strikes from a safe distance, as well as more modern B-1Bs loaded with GBU-31(v) 3/b JDAM precision free-fall bombs designed to penetrate fortifications and destroy bunkers.
