{"id":1895,"date":"2026-09-29T21:04:04","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T16:04:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=1895"},"modified":"2026-09-29T21:04:04","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T16:04:04","slug":"uk-probe-into-suspected-bomb-plot-at-us-airbase-mired-in-confusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=1895","title":{"rendered":"UK probe into suspected bomb plot at US airbase mired in confusion"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A UK probe into a suspected bomb plot at an airbase used by the United States was mired in confusion on Tuesday, after media reported that no explosives were detected in vehicles seized nearby.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As armed guards maintained a cordon around a nearby village, Washington questioned the decision to release on bail five men arrested near Royal Air Force Fairford in southwest England.<\/p>\n

Three white vans were discovered near the base on Sunday and the men, all London-based Britons in their mid-20s, were detained.<\/p>\n

Armed police were also visible on Tuesday patrolling around the airfield, which has been used by US planes to bomb targets in Iran.<\/p>\n

Police said officers conducted an extensive examination of the vehicles with the help of \u201cmilitary assets\u201d and forensic experts.<\/p>\n

They did not disclose their findings. But The Times newspaper and other UK media reported that police found no traces of explosives, easing fears that an attack had been foiled but leaving many questions unanswered.<\/p>\n

A resident in the neighbouring village of Kempsford, Patricia, 60, told AFP<\/em> it was \u201cvery embarrassing that people around the world thought it was a terrorist attack but in the end no \u2013 it\u2019s a lot of noise for nothing\u201d.<\/p>\n

Announcing the release on Monday of the five suspects, the head of UK Counter Terrorism Policing, Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, said the men \u201cabsolutely remain under investigation\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said officers were keeping an \u201copen mind\u201d and considering \u201cevery possible angle\u201d in the security scare, including the possible role of \u201cproxies\u201d working knowingly or unknowingly for a foreign state.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s embassy in London said it \u201ccategorically rejects and strongly condemns\u201d speculation that Tehran was involved.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u2018Serious situation\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Adding to the uncertainty, US President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday he was \u201csurprised\u201d that British police had released the five, adding: \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have done that\u201d.<\/p>\n

Hours later, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the incident \u201ca very serious situation \u2026 that clearly involves the hand of a foreign actor\u201d but declined to provide further details.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Trump had said Britain and the United States were investigating the suspects \u201cfor a long time\u201d and that they \u201cwere looking to do big damage to our fort\u201d.<\/p>\n

The security scare became public after a farmer living in the village of Whelford near the airbase called police after seeing the three vans blocking a road and a group of masked men fleeing the scene.<\/p>\n

Armed officers arrested the five men on suspicion of explosives offences and later on \u201csuspicion of preparing a terrorist act\u201d under anti-terror laws.<\/p>\n

Security at the base had reportedly been heightened recently.<\/p>\n

Britain gave Washington permission in March to use Fairford for \u201cspecific defensive operations into Iran\u201d to destroy Iranian missiles at source.<\/p>\n

U.S. bombers and other planes have since been seen taking off and landing from the base, the only one on Britain\u2019s mainland used for this purpose.<\/p>\n

The lack of clarity over the weekend incident has sparked different unverified theories, with some media reporting allegations that the men could even be fuel thieves.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bit odd they were here in the middle of the night,\u201d one local told AFP<\/em> as she did some gardening in the nearby village of Kempsford.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they were true terrorists, they wouldn\u2019t have released them,\u201d she added, asking not to give her name.<\/p>\n

Aerial footage of the vans showed they appeared to contain barrels, and at least one was marked with a fake logo and phone number giving the false impression that it was owned by a legitimate diesel delivery firm.<\/p>\n

The legitimate firm said in a statement on its website that \u201cneither the vehicle nor any of the individuals involved has any connection whatsoever with Fuel2U\u201d, adding that it was cooperating with police.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A UK probe into a suspected bomb plot at an airbase used by the United States was mired in confusion on Tuesday, after media reported that no explosives were detected in vehicles seized nearby. As armed guards maintained a cordon around a nearby village, Washington questioned the decision to release on bail five men arrested near Royal Air Force Fairford in southwest England. Three white vans were discovered near the base on Sunday and the men, all London-based Britons in their mid-20s, were detained. Armed police were also visible on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1895\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}