Questions loom over alleged UK terror plot near air base used by US bombers

Toby Shepheard/Reuters

The investigation into a suspected plot to attack an airbase in England used by long-range US bombers is continuing, according to British Defense Minister Wes Streeting, with five unidentified men still in detention.

The five were arrested early Sunday close to the base at Fairford in western England, from where US B-1 bombers have been flying missions against Iran.

UK authorities have not disclosed where the men are being held, nor what was found in three white vans the men appear to have used.

Aerial footage on Sunday showed a bomb disposal robot roaming between the vans in woods near the base. The rear doors of two of the vans were open and large black items could be seen scattered on the ground nearby.

CNN teams nearby later heard what sounded like two controlled detonations from the direction of the village where the vans were found.

In a series of interviews Monday, Streeting was asked whether the incident may have been driven by a hostile foreign state. He replied that he did not “want to speculate at this stage of the investigation.”

In July, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps specifically noted Fairford’s use by US bombers, warning the UK that “any base used for aggression against Iranian territory constitutes a legitimate target for our forces.”

It’s unclear whether the five men were under surveillance before their arrival in the Fairford area in the early hours of Sunday.

US President Donald Trump called the arrests “fantastic,” saying the US and the UK had the men under investigation for “a long time.”

Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images

“Working with Britain, it was an amazing job,” Trump told reporters in Chicago. “They were looking to do big damage to our fort and working with the British worked out great.”

“We had them under view for a long time, and we got them,” he said.

UK authorities have not commented on the US president’s assertion.

Speaking at the governing Labour party’s annual conference, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the events at Fairford were “a reminder of the threats our country faces.”

Photographs of the men – shirtless with their hands tied behind their backs – appeared in UK media Sunday.

They were initially detained under laws on possession of explosives and were later additionally arrested “on suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act,” according to a statement by counter-terrorism police.

A local resident said she came across the men when returning home on Saturday night.

“I found both the driveway and the road blocked by three white vans,” she told BBC radio Monday.

“On driving a short distance from the vans, I saw a large group of hooded and masked men,” the resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, said.

“When they saw me, they ran ahead of me, some into the field and some towards the neighboring village.”

“My impression was that they were fit and young, they were all wearing similar dark clothes.”

The resident said she had immediately called Defense Ministry police, who are responsible for security at the base, but they didn’t answer.

“At 1:36 a.m., I called (the emergency number) 999 to report what I had seen. Within 10 minutes, the village was full of armed police.”

“I think it was pure luck that I arrived in the village at a similar time to the vans,” the resident, a farmer, added.

Streeting thanked the resident but added that “she does only have a partial picture.”

The work of the police and the security services “takes place often unsung, unreported, for good reason,” he said.

Multiple UK media outlets – including the BBC, the Guardian and the Telegraph – reported, citing sources, that the operation was not intelligence-led, suggesting the vigilance of local residents may have played a key role in alerting authorities.

Police first received a call at 12:45 a.m. local time on Sunday “relating to three suspicious vehicles which appeared to be travelling towards the airbase,” according to a statement from counter-terrorism police.

The resident’s call – by her own account – took place nearly an hour later.

A cordon around the area where the men were detained remains, with a number of people evacuated from their homes.

Leon Neal/Getty Images

Local people told CNN that security around the base had been tightened in recent days, with roadblocks at the entrance. But roads and lanes in the immediate area were still open.

The woman who called the police and one other local resident said that during previous conflicts, such as that against Iraq in 2003, there had been heavy security around the base.

But security since the Iran conflict began has been less evident, they said.

In March, the UK government gave the US Air Force permission to use Fairford to carry ⁠out strikes on Iranian missile sites used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Days after the IRGC issued its threat against Fairford in July, Iranian media published a video of a group describing themselves as Iranian patriots at the perimeter fence of the base.

“This is RAF Fairford on British soil — the place where US military aircraft take off from these very runways to attack our people and our homeland,” one man says, with an Iranian flag hanging on the fence.

“We came to stand just a few meters from the nest of hostile aircraft and raise the proud flag of Iran,” the unidentified man says on the video.

A US Air Force spokesperson at Fairford – where the 501st ​Combat Support Wing is based – told CNN on Sunday: “For operational security reasons we will not discuss specific force protection measures.”

The unit “remains vigilant and will take appropriate actions to ensure the safety and security of our US service ⁠members, civilians, contractors, and their families,” the spokesperson said.

CNN’s James Frater contributed to this report.

托比·谢泼德/路透社

据英国国防大臣韦斯·斯特里廷称，对一起涉嫌袭击英国境内美国远程轰炸机使用空军基地的阴谋的调查仍在继续，目前仍有五名身份不明的男子被拘留。

周日清晨，这五人在英格兰西部费尔福德附近的一个基地被捕，美国 B-1 轰炸机一直从该基地对伊朗执行轰炸任务。

英国当局尚未透露这些男子被关押在哪里，也没有透露在他们似乎使用的三辆白色货车中发现了什么。

周日的航拍画面显示，一台拆弹机器人在基地附近树林中的几辆货车之间巡逻。其中两辆货车的后门敞开着，附近地面上散落着一些大型黑色物品。

CNN 记者随后在附近听到从发现货车的村庄方向传来像是两次受控爆炸的声音。

周一的一系列采访中，斯特里廷被问及这起事件是否可能是由敌对外国势力所为。他回答说，他“不想在调查的现阶段妄加猜测”。

7 月，伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队特别指出美国轰炸机使用了费尔福德基地，并警告英国“任何用于侵略伊朗领土的基地都构成我军的合法打击目标”。

目前尚不清楚这五名男子在周日凌晨抵达费尔福德地区之前是否受到监视。

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普称这些逮捕行动“非常棒”，并表示美国和英国已经对这些人进行了“很长时间的调查”。

Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images

特朗普在芝加哥告诉记者：“与英国合作真是太棒了。他们想对我们的堡垒造成巨大破坏，而与英国合作最终取得了非常好的效果。”

“我们关注它们很久了，最终我们得到了它们，”他说。

英国当局尚未对美国总统的说法发表评论。

外交大臣埃德·米利班德在执政的工党年度大会上发表讲话时表示，费尔福德事件“提醒我们国家面临的威胁”。

周日，英国媒体刊登了这些男子的照片，照片中他们赤裸上身，双手被绑在背后。

据反恐警察的一份声明称，他们最初因持有爆炸物而被拘留，后来又因“涉嫌准备实施恐怖主义行为”而被捕。

一位当地居民说，她周六晚上回家时偶然遇到了这些人。

“我发现车道和道路都被三辆白色货车堵住了，”她周一告诉BBC广播电台。

“我开车离开货车不远，就看到一大群戴着兜帽和面罩的男人，”这位不愿透露姓名的居民说。

“他们看见我，就跑到我前面去，有的跑到田里去，有的跑到邻村去。”

“我的印象是他们身材健壮，年轻有活力，而且都穿着类似的深色衣服。”

该居民表示，她立即打电话给负责基地安全的国防部警察，但他们没有接听。

“凌晨1点36分，我拨打了999报警电话，报告了我所看到的情况。不到10分钟，村子里就挤满了荷枪实弹的警察。”

“我觉得我和货车差不多同时到达村子纯属运气，”这位居民，同时也是一名农民，补充道。

斯特里廷感谢了这位居民，但补充说“她只掌握了部分信息”。

他说：“警察和安全部门的工作往往不为人知，不被报道，这是有充分理由的。”

包括 BBC、《卫报》和《每日电讯报》在内的多家英国媒体援引消息人士报道称，此次行动并非情报主导，这表明当地居民的警惕性可能在向当局发出警报方面发挥了关键作用。

反恐警察在一份声明中表示，警方于周日凌晨 12 点 45 分（当地时间）首次接到报警电话，“称有三辆可疑车辆似乎正驶向空军基地”。

据该居民自己描述，她大约一个小时后才打电话。

拘留这些男子的区域周围仍然拉着警戒线，许多人已被疏散出家园。

Leon Neal/Getty Images

当地居民告诉CNN，近日基地周围的安保措施有所加强，入口处设置了路障。但附近区域的道路和小路仍然畅通。

报警的女子和另一位当地居民表示，在之前的冲突中，例如 2003 年对伊拉克的冲突，基地周围都有严密的安保措施。

但他们表示，自伊朗冲突爆发以来，安全形势并不乐观。

今年 3 月，英国政府授权美国空军使用费尔福德空军基地对伊朗用于攻击霍尔木兹海峡船只的导弹发射场进行打击。

7 月，伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队对费尔福德发出威胁几天后，伊朗媒体发布了一段视频，视频中一群自称是伊朗爱国者的人在基地的围栏边。

“这里是英国领土上的费尔福德皇家空军基地——美国军用飞机就是从这些跑道起飞，袭击我们的人民和家园，”一名男子说道，围栏上挂着一面伊朗国旗。

“我们来到距离敌机巢穴仅几米的地方，升起了伊朗的骄傲国旗，”视频中，一名身份不明的男子说道。

美国空军驻费尔福德（第501战斗支援联队所在地）的一位发言人周日告诉CNN：“出于作战安全原因，我们不会讨论具体的部队保护措施。”

发言人表示，该部队“将保持警惕，并将采取适当措施，确保美国军人、文职人员、承包商及其家属的安全”。

CNN的詹姆斯·弗雷特对本报道亦有贡献。