British police said on Monday they had put five men on bail after arrests made on suspicion of terrorism and explosives offences near a British airbase used by the United States. Officers said the men have been released from custody while the investigation continues.

Arrests Near RAF Fairford

The arrests were carried out following an incident at the RAF Fairford base, police said. The airfield is used by the US, according to the statement issued by counter-terrorism policing.

Authorities did not provide details of what prompted the arrests, but said the suspects were released on bail after being detained in connection with the allegations.

Counter-Terrorism Investigation Under Way

Laurence Taylor, head of Counter Terrorism Policing, said investigators were examining a wide range of possibilities. He said officers were reviewing the matter from every angle following the incident at RAF Fairford.

Police said the men remain subject to ongoing investigation. They did not set out when further steps would be taken or whether any additional arrests were expected.

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Foreign-State Proxy Possibility

Taylor also referred to the possibility that the incident could have involved people acting on another state’s behalf. He said investigators were considering whether the offences could have been carried out by proxies, or by individuals who may have been working for a foreign state either knowingly or without realising the role they were playing.

Police said that focus formed part of their continuing inquiries as they worked to understand the circumstances of the arrests and what connection, if any, the suspects may have had to the suspected offences.

Bail Status While Enquiries Continue

Bail allows a person to be released from custody while police investigations and any related legal processes go ahead. In this case, police said five men released on bail are still under investigation, meaning enquiries are continuing into the allegations of terrorism-related and explosives offences.

Authorities did not say whether the five men were facing charges at the time of the announcement, but they emphasised that the matter was not closed.

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28 September 2026

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That’s nuts.

Bail?!! That is absolutely crazy! They should be hanging upside down by their toes in a police cell right now, and being 'encouraged' to explain their actions....

Bail is allowed when the Crown cannot show there is a significant risk if the accused is released. The court will refuse bail if the crown shows;

1. Accused is at risk of absconding (Fleeing) or will not appear at the next court proceeding.

2. Accused is likely to commit additional offences.

3. Court process may be interfered with (e.g. intimidation of witnesses, destruction of evidence)

4. Protection of the accused (e.g. at risk of self harm such as suicide or drug overdose)

If an accused has; a clean record, ties to a community a job, is caring for someone, third parties to act as guarantors of good conduct then bail will most likely be granted.

More importantly if the Crown does not present evidence of wrongdoing, the court is obliged to grant bail.

Please keep this in mind before a judge or the court system is blamed for granting bail. If there is no real evidence, it is difficult to hold people in custody. This tells me that the police may have found little evidence or that they have failed to provide the evidence to the Crown to support a denial of bail. Or, the Crown did not object to bail or failed in its representation before the court.

12 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

This tells me that the police may have found little evidence

Exactly, no way would they have been released if even a water pistol was found on one of them. Clearly, they found nothing. And neither did background checks come up with anything.

Probably, a bunch of young influencers out to shoot something in the moonlight.

Much ado about nothing then !

Training exercise. Good joke with the fake company name on one of the vans. 3 of them from Westminster. Hmm, Wellington........ Camden...Albany St Barracks was used by 22 in the past (Iranian Embassy siege)

Its the latest Channel 4 reality show.

The police identified amazingly quickly where the men live. but there was no smashing of doors, or mysterious cars covered up on the backs of wagons in various parts of London, out of an abundance of caution

. Or even what on earth happened to the vans.

No real resistance from the balaclava'd men who apparently were intent on a bombing?

We'll see. Over the summer, strange low flying helicopters have been fast roping blokes onto Mancunian roof tops

1 hour ago, Autocan said:

Exactly, no way would they have been released if even a water pistol was found on one of them. Clearly, they found nothing. And neither did background checks come up with anything.

Probably, a bunch of young influencers out to shoot something in the moonlight.

Another giveaway is that the farmer had somehow evaded a cordon (roadblocks) that had been set up in the days ahead. A few hours earlier the police told people to stay in doors. And 3 vans also past the cordons?