Five suspects have been arrested for planning a terror attack outside Britain’s RAF Fairford airbase. This base is under the control of the American Air Force and attacks on Iran have been launched from here. Now it is being investigated whether this conspiracy has any connection with Iran. Iran has previously threatened to attack this airbase. The identity of the accused has not been released yet. However, according to the woman farmer who informed the police, they appeared to be of Middle-Eastern origin.

The whole incident was triggered by a 999 call from a local woman who reported seeing three suspicious vans and five masked men just after midnight. At approximately 12:45 a.m. on Sunday, September 27, police received information about three suspicious vans. The vehicles were seen traveling from the village of Welford in Gloucestershire to RAF Fairford. The woman said she was returning home from a party. On the way he saw three vans parked in the middle of the road. The name and phone number of the fuel company were written on the van, but the number was missing a digit.

Masked men were seen running towards the airbase

Seeing the van, the woman reversed the car in confusion. Meanwhile, people wearing hoods and balaclavas (clothes covering the head and face) were seen a few meters away. Some people ran towards the trees and fields while others were seen going towards the airbase. The woman immediately drove away and called 999. According to him, the police reached the spot in about 15 minutes. The woman also informed people about this in a local WhatsApp group and asked them to keep their house doors closed.

Large barrels appeared near the van

After this, the bomb diffusion team of the army started the investigation of the three vans. Around 400 meters of cordon was made around the van. 85 houses were evacuated in Welford. The van was also checked with a bomb disposal robot. The back doors of two vans were open and large black barrels were lying on the ground. Lucy Lewis, a former bomb disposal officer in the British Army, said the van could have contained large amounts of explosives. According to him, the barrels looked like water or oil drums, leading Lewis to suspect that the explosives contained in them may have been made from ammonium nitrate.

Officials said that all the five terrorists were preparing for the attack. All these five accused were first arrested on suspicion of offense under the Explosives Act. Later he was also suspected of preparing a terrorist incident under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act. All the five are in police custody and interrogation is going on.

Why is RAF Fairford important?

RAF Fairford is an important American military base located in the Cotswolds region of Britain. The US Air Force has been using it since the 1950s. This airbase has been used in many wars and military operations. These include the Gulf War, the 2003 Iraq War and this year’s US-Israel war against Iran. American B-1 and B-52 bombers flew from RAF Fairford during the campaign against Iran.

In July, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard warned that any base used to attack Iran would be a legitimate target. However, the arrest’s connection to Iran has not yet been proven. The investigation is also looking into other possible causes. Britain’s counter-terror police have said the investigation is still in its early stages. Importantly, the police said the action was not based on intelligence already received. That is, information from a local woman played an important role in reaching the suspects.