5 arrested near RAF Fairford released on bail; probe continues

British police said Monday they were releasing on bail five men arrested on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act near RAF Fairford, a base used by American bombers to strike Iran, while the investigation continues.

The release of the men followed “extensive interviews,” Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, a senior counterterrorism police official, said at a briefing. The individuals remain under investigation and will face “stringent conditions on their movement and contact with others,” he added.

“To be very clear, this does not mean that the investigation is over,” Taylor said.

The men, British citizens in their 20s from London, were arrested early Sunday in Whelford, a small village surrounded by farmland just minutes from RAF Fairford.

A U.K. counterterrorism unit said Sunday that it was leading the investigation.

“We are working closely with our U.K. counterparts to monitor this situation, minimize impacts and ensure the safety of U.S. personnel, their families and the local community,” a spokesman for U.S. European Command said Monday in response to questions.

Security was heightened at RAF Fairford and other British bases with U.S. forces — including RAF Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall and RAF Feltwell — according to bystanders.

How was the suspected attack stopped?

A local farmer returning from a party said she saw three vans blocking a road. As she turned her car around, she saw a group of masked men in balaclavas scattering into the trees and across the fields toward RAF Fairford, about a quarter-mile away, she told The Telegraph on Sunday.

“We knew the air base had a credible threat of a terrorist attack before last night,” she told the paper. “So as soon as I saw them, I was worried.”

She told the BBC that she called 999, the primary emergency number used in the United Kingdom, to report the men. Gloucestershire police say they were alerted at about 12:45 a.m. Sunday.

President Donald Trump said Sunday that authorities had been watching the men “for a long time” and that they were “looking to do big damage to our fort.”

Britain’s defense secretary, Wes Streeting, cautioned against drawing definitive conclusions from the woman’s account of the late-night call.

“I do want to thank the member of the public who acted quickly and called this in,” he said. “I would also just say respectfully that she has a partial picture.”

Streeting said he could not explain further due to security reasons.

British authorities had been monitoring threats to the base, but still credited the woman’s call with alerting police to the men near Fairford, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the investigation.

Were explosives recovered from the scene?

Authorities said that the men were initially arrested on suspicion of committing offenses under Britain’s Explosives Act but have not said whether explosives were found.

Aerial footage published Sunday showed a bomb disposal robot inspecting three white vans. Large dark barrels appeared near the vehicles in some footage. Police established a cordon and evacuated about 85 surrounding homes.

British officials on Monday declared the scene safe and said that Whelford residents would soon be able to return to their homes.

Several British news outlets reported that the entrances and other gates around RAF Fairford had been fortified by tractors and other large vehicles in recent days.

Are there any links to international actors?

The U.K. authorized American forces to use the country’s air bases to strike Iranian missile sites after the start of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran on Feb. 28.

U.S. forces have used Fairford as a staging point during the war for long-range bombers, including the B-1 Lancer and B-52 Stratofortress.

British officials have characterized the strikes as defensive and permitted under international law. Iran has named RAF Fairford a legitimate target for retaliation. Neither British nor U.S. officials have publicly linked Sunday’s arrests to Iran.

Citing a source familiar with the investigation, Reuters reported that an Iran-linked motive was the most likely, while Russian sabotage and Islamist-linked violence were also being examined.

In a statement Monday, Iran’s embassy in the U.K. said it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns” any attempt to link Iran to the incident.

“I am very aware of the levels of speculation about the motivation behind this incident and the geopolitical questions that are being raised,” Vicki Evans, the senior national coordinator for the U.K.’s counterterrorism unit, told the BBC on Monday. She asked that the team be given “the space to work carefully and clearly.”

In July, the U.K. passed legislation to address a number of security threats, including from individuals and groups representing Iran and Russia. The law made it a crime to support any of the designated groups. 

They include Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Iran-linked Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right and Russia’s GRU Volunteer Corps.

Like the rest of Europe, Britain is dealing with an increase in what has been called “gray zone” warfare linked to Russia.

Last month, a drone with an explosive device was found near a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig Airport in Germany.

After an investigation, the German government blamed Moscow and ordered the closure of a Russian cultural center in Berlin and the Kremlin’s last remaining consulate in the country.