UK Terror Arrests Keep RAF Fairford Area Sealed Monday

Police kept a cordon in place on Monday near RAF Fairford in south-west England, after officers arrested five men early on Sunday on suspicion of terrorism and explosives offences.

The arrests were made in connection with a suspected plot near the Royal Air Force base, where U.S. forces operate. Authorities said the men were found with three vans close to the site, prompting an immediate response that included evacuations.

Arrests And Evacuations Near The Base

The British investigation followed police activity around RAF Fairford, a long-standing hub for the United States Air Force in Europe and a staging point for long-range missions in the Middle East, including during the conflict involving Iran.

At least 85 homes were evacuated during the operation, police said. The area remained under security restrictions on Monday.

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting told BBC Radio 4 that the investigation was “well under way” and thanked those involved in the arrests, the evacuation of the town and the subsequent investigation.

Minister Cites ‘Partial Picture’ Tip

Streeting said he would not provide further detail on operational security matters, explaining that doing so could give people intent on harming the UK greater insight into security arrangements.

He thanked a tipster who contacted authorities about the incident. Streeting said the caller had provided only “a partial picture” and added that he would not go further on operational security grounds.

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Streeting also praised an anonymous farmer who spoke with the BBC and said she made the call after seeing “hooded and masked” men and vans in the early hours of Sunday morning in the nearby village of Whelford.

Asked about whether there had been shortcomings in the response, the farmer said she believed authorities had “dropped the ball” by allowing the suspected men to get so close to the base.

Streeting said public frustration at the incomplete picture was a “small price to pay” to safeguard operational security. He also declined to comment on the identities, aims or motivations of the five detained men.

U.S. Missions And Iran Link Under Review

Streeting would not say what police or intelligence services may have known before the arrests, but he welcomed praise from President Donald Trump about an operation that Trump said had been under way for a “long time”.

Trump told reporters on Sunday that the suspects were “looking to do big damage” to U.S. forces based at RAF Fairford, adding that the arrest in the UK was “fantastic” and described the work with Britain as “an amazing job”.

The U.S. military has used RAF Fairford intensively amid the conflict involving Iran, although authorities have not confirmed any connection to Iran. The base is used by American B-52 and B-1 heavy bombers deployed for operations in the region.

When asked whether Iran may have been involved, Streeting said he was not “drawing a connection with Iran”. He then added that Iran and its proxies wish to harm the UK and its partners.

META: British police arrested five men near RAF Fairford on suspicion of terrorism and explosives offences, prompting evacuations as officials declined to detail sensitive operational security matters.

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28 September 2026