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The UK's Counter Terrorism Policing has released five men on bail who were arrested on suspicion of plotting an attack on the RAF Fairford base, which hosts US military operations. While the suspects face stringent conditions, police are investigating potential foreign state involvement, including possible links to Iran due to the base's role in strikes against the country.
The United Kingdom’s Head of Counter Terrorism Policing, Laurence Taylor, announced that police released five men arrested on suspicion of terrorism on bail.for allegedly plotting an attack on the British Royal Air Force base at Fairford, which is used by the U.S.The investigation continues and the men are subject to “stringent conditions on their movement and contact with others” and “absolutely remain under investigation” Taylor said the men had been arrested on suspicion of explosives offences and later on suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act He said the three vehicles the men had been travelling in have been subject to “extensive examination” with support from military and forensic experts CTP hopes to reduce their presence at the scene “later today” and “get residents back to their homes” Taylor added that CTP are keeping an “open mind” as to whether the “ geopolitical context” is a factor in their investigation.
He says police are “considering this from every angle”, including whether the incident was “committed by proxies or individuals… working on behalf of a foreign state”. – This may be activity committed by proxies for a foreign stateThe U.S. uses the base to carry out strikes on Iran, which is one reason why the police have been investigating whether Iran had a hand in the alleged plot.
So…did officials overstate the severity of the situation, or is the UK being soft? Taylor’s statement sounds like it’s possible a state sponsored the alleged attack.
“We are considering this from every possible angle, including that this may be actively committed by proxies or individuals, either knowingly or unknowingly working on behalf of a foreign state to respond to incidents such as these,” Taylor“To all those who mean us harm and plot violence on our soil, let this be a reminder you will never defeat us,” The announcement this afternoon by the head of Counter Terrorism Policing that all five men arrested outside RAF Fairford airbase early on Sunday are to be released on bail sits at odds with our being told this was a “major incident” and talk of disaster averted. The men, all young UK nationals from London, are still under investigation.
But the fact they are no longer in custody dramatically reduces the scale of how big or how dangerous a plot this was alleged to be. These men showed up to RAF Fairford in the middle of the night, drove close to the perimeter, and wore balaclavas.
It sounds like this plotpolice said on Sunday they had arrested five men on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act and the army was examining a number of vehicles after security was stepped up at a British Counter-terrorism detectives leading the investigation said police had received a call about three suspicious vehicles that appeared to be travelling towards RAF Fairford in the early hours of Sunday.
“We had them under view for a long time, and we got them,” he said, saying that the suspects had been under investigation by both British and US authorities. “The fact that a Cobra national security meeting has been convened to discuss this incident shows it is being taken extremely seriously by the government,”
UK Counter Terrorism RAF Fairford Terrorism Investigation International Security Geopolitical Context
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