According to The Telegraph, five men arrested in connection with a suspected bomb plot targeting RAF Fairford have been released on bail. The suspects, all British nationals from London, will remain under investigation. Police are understood to be investigating a possible Iranian link to the alleged plot. They were arrested only a few hundred yards from the RAF base.
The five suspected terrorists are out on bail already as police say they are keeping “an open mind.”
They added that the alleged offenses under investigation could have been “actively committed by proxies or individuals either knowingly or unknowingly working on behalf of a foreign state”.
The men were pictured on Sunday being apprehended, shirtless, near the RAF base in Gloucestershire. The base is being used by the US Air Force in its operations against Iran. Police said three were 24, one was 25, and one was 23. Three lived in Westminster, one in Camden, and the other in Willesden.
A Farmer Reported the Hooded Masked Men
Fox News said that the Sunday night arrests came after a local resident and farmer in Gloucestershire told the BBC that she had called police late in the evening after coming across three white vans blocking a road near RAF Fairford air base. As she turned her car around, she told the BBC that her headlights illuminated a group of “hooded and masked men.” She said they “panicked” upon being spotted and scrambled into nearby woods.
The police said the farmer had a partial picture of the situation.
Authorities identified the five men as “U.K. nationals,” but did not offer any further details.
RAF Fairford plays host to significant U.S. Air Force assets and has been used as a launching point for multiple U.S. operations in the war against Iran.
The local told the BBC she was astounded that her 999 call “foiled whatever plans they had.” She added that she was surprised the base didn’t have stronger surveillance and security.
“I think it was pure luck that I arrived in the village at a similar time to the vans,” she told the BBC. “I’m absolutely staggered that it was left to me, as a member of the public, to see and report this.”
Iran said they had nothing to do with it.
However, according to the Wall Street Journal, Iran had warned the U.K. earlier this year that it would face consequences for allowing the U.S. to use its bases to attack the country. U.S. bombers have used Fairford base to fly sorties in the Middle East conflict.
They have already been released. But don’t worry, there are stringent conditions. The police are keeping an “open mind”, says The Guardian.
“To be very clear, this does not mean the investigation is over, They are subject to stringent conditions on their movement and contact with others. They absolutely remain under investigation as we explore multiple lines of inquiry. At counter-terrorism policing, we are working within this context every day. And we are keeping an open mind in this investigation.”
Oh, good, there are stringent conditions.