Seventh arrest bailed in RAF Fairford terror plot probe, no charges filed

All seven men arrested over a suspected terror plot near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire have now been released on bail. No one has been charged.

Seventh suspect bailed in RAF Fairford terror investigation

A 22-year-old British national arrested on suspicion of preparing acts of terror near RAF Fairford has been released on bail, bbc.co.uk reports. The man was detained in Westminster, London, on Tuesday under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006.

He is the seventh person to be arrested and subsequently bailed in connection with the incident near the Gloucestershire airbase. No one has been charged.

The investigation began in the early hours of 27 September, when police were alerted to three suspicious vehicles near the base, prompting a major incident to be declared and dozens of nearby homes to be evacuated.

Five men, aged between 23 and 25, were arrested on the day of the incident on suspicion of explosives offences, with those suspicions later extended to preparing an act of terror. A sixth man — a 25-year-old dual Iranian-British national — was arrested on 1 October in Westminster. The latest arrest, also in Westminster, was carried out by counter-terror police on Tuesday.

RAF Fairford, situated near the village of Whelford, has hosted US Air Force operations for decades. In recent months, the US flew B-1 and B-52 bombers from the base to the Middle East following UK approval of American requests to use Fairford for defensive strikes against Iran.

On Sunday, however, it emerged that the US had withdrawn its bombers from the base and returned them stateside. President Donald Trump confirmed the move, citing unspecified threats to the airfield. "There were some threats. And rather than tempting the enemy, we'll capture the enemy and beat the enemy," he told reporters. "But why should we leave them there? So we moved them around a little bit. Not very far."

Prior to Trump's remarks, a Downing Street spokesperson had maintained that RAF Fairford was safe, pointing to earlier comments by the US president in which he praised the UK's "police, defence and security services" in connection with the base.

Source: Sky News