The five men arrested over a suspected Iranian bomb plot at RAF Fairford are British nationals from London, Counter Terrorism Policing said.
The suspects, aged between 23 and 25, were detained outside the Gloucestershire airbase in the early hours of Sunday after officers feared they could be wearing suicide belts. They were stripped during the arrest.
SAS personnel were reportedly sent to the scene from Hereford, according to sources.
A police cordon remains around RAF Fairford, while overnight searches connected to the arrests have generated “multiple new lines of enquiry”, officers said.
The men were initially arrested under the Explosives Act before also being detained on terrorism charges. Three are from Westminster, one is from Camden and the fifth is from Willesden.
All five remain in custody and may be questioned for up to 14 days under Britain’s anti-terrorism legislation.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans, Counter Terrorism Policing’s Senior National Coordinator, said: “This is a hugely complex and large-scale operation involving local and national policing, the MoD and local agencies, which are working together to progress the investigation and support the community.
“I know this has been incredibly disruptive for local people, but I’d like to reassure them that our activity is in the interests of national security and, most importantly, their own safety.
“I’d also like to thank the emergency services for their response, including the armed officers who first attended the scene not knowing what they might face.
“I am very aware of the levels of speculation about the motivation behind this incident and the geopolitical questions being raised. However, I ask that Counter Terrorism Policing be given the space at this time to carry out its work carefully and thoroughly.”
The farmer credited with alerting authorities to the suspected terror plot at RAF Fairford has criticised Wes Streeting after he said she had only “a partial picture” of the operation. She also revealed that police have yet to contact her.
The local woman was driving home from a party in the early hours of Sunday when she came across three large white vans blocking a road just yards from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, the base used by US bombers to strike Iran.
The suspected terrorists, who may have been wearing suicide vests, reportedly ran from the vehicles in different directions.
The farmer said she saw more suspects who appeared to be Middle Eastern fleeing the area than the five men subsequently arrested.
After she accused the authorities of having “dropped the ball”, Streeting appeared to suggest that police and security agencies already knew about the incident. President Trump also said: “We know all about them.”
The farmer told reporters: “I know it’s been said by some of the higher ups today that I didn’t have the full picture, but the picture I had was three extremely unusual vehicles parked in the middle of our village and a group of unknown men running around.
“So, that’s my picture. I don’t know whether that’s the full picture or not.”
She added: “I don’t know how he knows what picture I’ve got, I’ve never met him. Literally nobody in any sort of official capacity has been in touch with me or anyone else in the village, no follow up at all, even now, from the police who had my number when I reported it to 999, so it’s just very odd.”
Police arrested five men on terrorism charges near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. Officers said all five are British nationals from London and aged in their 20s.
The farmer said the vans appeared suspicious because the phone number and lettering displayed on their backs seemed fake. Another farmer approached the men, who then fled.
An armed officer looks through his rifle scope at RAF Fairford today
Britain’s security services are on high alert today amid fears of further Iranian terror attacks on UK soil.
MI5 and counter-terrorism police are scrambling to establish who was behind the suspected bomb plot after arresting five men believed to have been on the verge of carrying out a ‘very big attack’, sources said.
However, suggestions that UK authorities had advance notice of the plot were dismissed, with Whitehall sources insisting the arrests were not pre-planned despite comments by President Trump and Defence Secretary Wes Streeting that appeared to suggest otherwise.
Mr Streeting today praised the farmer’s quick thinking and public spirit, but insisted that she had only a ‘partial picture’ of events, declining to reveal further details.
He said: ‘She has done exactly what we would hope that someone in that extraordinary situation would do, and I’m really grateful to her.
‘I think she acted, by her own admission, quickly and thoughtfully, and she did the right thing. With respect, though, she does only have a partial picture, and that’s as far as I wish to go this morning.’
He was asked about why a MoD 24/7 hotline for locals to report security concerns at Fairford was not answered when the farmer called yesterday. Mr Streeting said he could not comment due to the ‘live investigation’ into the incident.
But he again thanked police and the security services for their response, adding that the UK must not be ‘cowed by sabre-rattling from Iran’ or allow the country to ‘dictate our foreign policy’ while stressing it was ‘too early to attribute background aims’.
Donald Trump appeared to nod when asked by reporters last night whether the suspects were migrants. However, he did not answer directly, saying only: ‘We know all about them.’
The farmer said she was astonished to have been the person who raised the alarm, despite President Trump’s claim that the group were known to authorities and under surveillance.
One resident said of the local farmer: ‘She is a hero. She has almost certainly prevented a terror attack.’
Wes Streeting (pictured today) claimed the hero farmer who foiled an attack on RAF base used by US bombers ‘only has a partial picture’ of the security operation
The ‘masked’ men were later filmed shirtless amid reports they may have been on a suicide mission armed with explosive vests, allegedly targeting a fleet of US B-1 Lancer bombers based at Fairford.
The farmer, who has not been named, was forced to stop when she found three white vans blocking the road.
As the men fled in different directions, she called 999 before sending a message to the local WhatsApp group in the village of Whelford.
Within 25 minutes, the five suspects had been rounded up and arrested by armed counter-terrorism officers, who are now investigating whether the alleged plot was linked to Iran.
‘They probably thought we were the police and panicked,’ the farmer said last night.
‘A plucky amateur shouldn’t be spotting unusual activity at 1am when the air base is on high alert. I think it’s absolutely astonishing.
‘Thinking about it now, and what could have happened if they had tried to stop me from driving away, I am quite lucky.’
She added: ‘It is pretty incredible, realising you had a face-to-face brush with potential terrorists and may have foiled a terrorist plot. It was clear they had only just arrived. Thank God we spotted them.’
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday morning she said: ‘I was coming home late from a party. On reaching our farm, I found both the driveway and the road blocked by three white vans.
‘We were aware that RAF Fairford was operating at a high security level and that civilian staff had been evacuated.
‘We had noticed some activity from what I assumed were plain-clothed police officers for the previous few days, so initially I thought perhaps this was more of the same.
‘I had no choice but to turn my vehicle around and return back the way I came.
‘On driving a short distance from the vans, I saw a large group of hooded and masked men.
‘When they saw me, they ran ahead of me, some into the field and some towards the neighbouring village of Kempsford.
‘I then realised that something highly unusual was taking place. In light of my awareness of a security threat to the base, I immediately called the MoD (Ministry of Defence) police, the phone rang out and they didn’t answer.
‘At 1.36am I called 999 to report what I had seen. Within 10 minutes, the village was full of armed police.
‘I think it was pure luck that I arrived in the village at a similar time to the vans.
‘I am absolutely staggered that it was left to me, as a member of the public, to see and report this.
‘The airbase were operating a roadblock close to the entrance to the base, but not on any of the other roads.
‘But we assumed someone would be monitoring the roads around the base perimeter and taking regular patrols in the village.
‘Clearly, this was not happening, and I believe that my 999 call foiled whatever plans they had.
‘Even more surprising that, following my call at 1.36am, the police were aware of the presence of the three vans, but didn’t evacuate the village until 6am.
‘No one from the police has been in touch to ask me anything about it.
‘I think they were hyper-focused and vigilant about the base itself, and had absolutely no regard for our village.
‘The vans were within metres of houses, and those people were left unaware, apart from the fact that I sent a message to our village WhatsApp group, hoping that some people would be awake and could make sure their doors were locked.
‘It all happened fairly quickly. My impression was that they were fit and young, they were all wearing similar dark clothes.
‘I’m just really keen to highlight that it appears someone really dropped the ball on this.
‘Also, I am finding it strange that at the press conference, the police are saying they responded to a call at 12.45 about three suspicious vans travelling towards the base.
‘If this is the case, why did they not know they were in Whelford when I called almost an hour later?’
Last night as he landed back in Washington from Illinois, President Trump hailed US-UK co-operation to foil the attack – and insisted that the group were known to police and were ‘looking to do big damage’ to US forces.
When asked if the US knew about the attack, he said: ‘We know all about them. You’ll be hearing about it very soon. We caught them.’
Earlier in the day he said: ‘It was fantastic. Working with Britain, it was an amazing job. We had them under investigation. They were looking to do big damage to our fort, and working with the British worked out great.
‘It may have been Scotland Yard, I don’t know. We worked with a lot of them. We had them under view for a long time, and we got them. Thank you.’
RAF Fairford was used by the United States Air Force for operations against Iran. The base, which is already on high alert and had ramped up security in recent weeks, is less than a mile from the centre of the village.
Donald Trump appeared to nod to reporters when asked if the men arrested were migrants to the UK last night – but did not answer the question
The group were shirtless and handcuffed, suggesting police suspected they may be wearing suicide vests
Minutes after the farmer’s call, armed police descended on the quiet Cotswolds village of Whelford – home to just 100 – and arrested five men. Dramatic video and pictures from the scene show the young, shirtless men sitting on the ground – arms handcuffed behind them.
The woman, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals, said she believed her headlights had startled the men, prompting them to try to flee.
She told the Sun: ‘The worst thing is that we saw more than five people and they kept saying they arrested five. They had the helicopters searching.’
It comes as Temporary Chief Constable for Gloucestershire Police, Maggie Blyth, has indicated the force is not looking for anybody else in connection with the incident.
The farmer revealed she had been driving along a quiet lane through the village while her husband was sleeping beside her as she prepared to drop a friend home.
She said the vans struck her as being suspicious because a phone number and lettering on the back of the vehicles appeared to be fake.
She added: ‘I just thought what the hell are they doing… I saw a group of Middle Eastern–looking young guys running off through the trees. Some of them had masks or balaclavas on, and they all scattered ahead of us as we drove back past.
‘Some of them ran into the fields, and some of them turned to run towards the air base. We realised this was something pretty serious.
US Air Force bomberson the tarmac at RAF Fairford base in Fairford today
Three white vans have been probed by a wheeled robot attached to the bomb squad after five men were arrested following a ‘foiled terror plot’ on RAF Fairford
‘We knew the air base had a credible threat of a terrorist attack before last night. So as soon as I saw them I was worried.
‘I mean, you don’t see masked men running around at half-one in the morning in the countryside near a secure air base and not have concerns.
‘It’s bloody preposterous that they weren’t on it and I had to phone up. I’d like to think it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing.’
The woman said she hoped the police ‘sort themselves out and this doesn’t happen to us again’ – insisting there would be some ‘red faces in the highest levels of command at Fairford anyway’.
One of the white vans was labelled ‘FUEL 2YOU’ in red lettering, with a phone number that was one digit short.
A company with the same name said it had two vans and they were both in London yesterday. After the men were detained a 400m cordon was thrown up around the vehicles – which appeared to have been laden with barrels – while police went door to door, evacuating the 85 homes in the village.
Residents told how they were initially woken by a helicopter at 1am and then again by bangs on the door before being taken away in their pyjamas and dressing gowns to a leisure centre.
Jo, who did not want to give her surname, has lived in Whelford for 18 years. She said she was evacuated from her home at around 7am, adding: ‘We were asleep and they were just banging on our door. They said it was a critical incident and we’ve got to leave straight away, and they basically wouldn’t leave the doorstep until we left.
‘We just had to throw our clothes on and come. We didn’t know anything. (The police) literally waited (at the door). I didn’t even brush my teeth.’
Another Whelford resident said they were woken by a helicopter at 2am. They were then woken again at 6.30am by police officers banging on their bedroom window telling them they needed to evacuate. The local said: ‘We’d gone to bed as normal around 10pm and heard the helicopter above the house at 2ish.
Heavily-armed personnel are seen at the main entrance to RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire
‘You get used to aircraft living so close to the base, but not at that time in the early hours. So we knew something was happening.
‘We sleep downstairs and heard a banging on the window at 6.30am. We must have slept through the doorbell.
‘It was the police, they were armed and in masks. They very calmly said there was a ‘serious incident’ and that we needed to leave for our own safety.
‘We grabbed some things and headed to the leisure centre. We haven’t been told when we can go back. It’s been a very scary day.’
Those evacuated were taken to Cirencester Leisure Centre – ten miles away – where areas are also being set up for people’s cats and dogs.
Two uniformed officers had earlier gone to collect one worried resident’s dog. They dropped off the small black terrier to her in the foyer of the centre.
Julian Tudsbery, who has lived in Whelford for 30 years, said: ‘Evidently, they phoned the airbase police, who didn’t answer the phone. It just rang out so she dialled 999.’
He said he was evacuated at 7am, adding: ‘[The police] were then banging on the door, so I went downstairs in my dressing gown.’
