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Armed police arrested five men near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, England, in the early hours of Sunday, September 27, after a caller reported three suspicious vehicles heading toward the base. According to a statement from Gloucestershire Police, the call came in at around 12:45 a.m., and armed officers detained the men in the village of Whelford on suspicion of offenses under the Explosives Act.
Counter Terrorism Policing took over the investigation later that day. London's Metropolitan Police, which leads on terrorism cases, said the five men are now being held on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act, the Associated Press reported. Police have not named the men or said what they are suspected of planning.
A 400-meter cordon went up around the three vehicles while the Army's explosive ordnance disposal team examined them. Around 85 households were told to leave their homes as a precaution, and a nearby leisure center opened for residents with nowhere else to stay. Aerial footage cited by AP showed a bomb disposal robot moving between three white vans, two of them with their rear doors open. Police described the incident as contained.
"We are in the early stages of an investigation, and five men remain in custody," said Vicki Evans, the Met's deputy assistant commissioner.
Whelford backs onto RAF Fairford, a British-owned base operated by the US military under an agreement dating to the Cold War. It hosts the headquarters of the US Air Force's 501st Combat Support Wing and the 420th Air Base Squadron. After the US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28, the UK government allowed American forces to use Fairford to strike Iranian missile sites, CBS News reported. B-52 bombers have flown from the base since at least March.
The base has drawn threats before. Fox News reported that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has declared Fairford a "legitimate target" after B-1B bombers used it for missions against Iranian military targets. A US Air Force spokesperson said American and British personnel remain vigilant, but declined to discuss specific force protection measures for operational security reasons.
The arrests come amid growing concern over hostile-state activity on British soil. UK officials said in March that national security cases involving states such as Iran rose 50% in the six months to December 2025. Last week, counter-terrorism police also arrested two men over a suspected plot against Manchester's Jewish community.
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