Five men arrested near US airbase in Britain on suspicion of plotting terrorist attack. What is known

On Sunday, September 27, British police arrested five men near RAF Fairford military air base in Gloucestershire, a base used by the US Air Force.

The BBC and Sky News write about the incident.

At around 00:45 local time, law enforcement officers received a report of three suspicious minibuses heading towards the air base. The five men in the vehicles were detained.

They were initially charged with violating the law on explosives, but the case was later reclassified as preparation of a terrorist attack. They are currently in custody.

Police established a 400-meter cordon around the cars, they were checked by sappers, and residents of 85 houses were evacuated from the nearby village of Welford.

Counter-terrorism police have been called into the investigation. Law enforcement officials say the situation is now fully contained and under control.

Sky News, citing sources, writes that British police are also investigating the suspectsʼ possible connection to Iran. The investigation is ongoing.

The US President Donald Trump said the detainees allegedly wanted to "do great harm" to the air base. According to him, American and British services had been monitoring them for some time, and the "brilliant" arrest was the result of a joint investigation.

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, for his part, urged citizens not to spread premature rumors and speculation until the official investigation is complete.

• RAF Fairford in Britain is regularly used by the US Air Force as a forward base. In particular, it was used to house US B-52 strategic bombers.
• The base also regularly hosts one of the largest and most famous military air shows in the world, the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT). And since March 2026, the US has used the base to conduct operations against Iran during the war in the Middle East.

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