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British national arrested in connection with RAF Fairford incident - Published A 22-year-old British national has been arrested on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts in connection with an incident close to RAF Fairford, counter-terror police said. He was arrested in Westminster, London, on Tuesday as part of the investigation into the incident near the airbase in Gloucestershire on 27 September. It is the seventh arrest in connection to the incident but no one has been charged. A major incident was declared and dozens of homes were evacuated after police were alerted to three "suspicious vehicles" near the airbase. Senior national coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing, Vicki Evans, said it "remains a live investigation" and police are continuing to "pursue multiple lines of enquiry". Five men were arrested on 27 September near the base in connection with the incident and were subsequently released on police bail. The men, aged between 23 and 25, were detained in the early hours of the morning after vehicles were reported to be travelling towards the base. They were arrested on suspicion of explosives offences and later on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act, before being released on bail in what police called an "investigative decision" that was "grounded in experience and strategy". A sixth man, a 25-year-old dual Iranian-British national, was arrested on 1 October in Westminster and was also later released on bail. RAF Fairford, near the village of Whelford, has been used by the US Air Force for decades. In recent months, the US has flown B-1 and B-52 bombers from the base to the Middle East, after the UK approved a request for Fairford to be used for defensive strikes against Iran. On Sunday, it emerged the US had pulled its bombers out of the base and returned them to America. US President Donald Trump said the aircraft were removed due to "some threats" to the base without giving specific details. While speaking to a group of reporters outside the White House on Monday, Trump was asked if a "specific threat" had led the US to pull its bombers from the airbase. He replied: "Yeah I think we can say that. They didn't fly out by accident. "There were some threats. And rather than tempting the enemy, we'll capture the enemy and beat the enemy. "But why should we leave them there? So we moved them around a little bit. Not very far." Earlier, US Vice-President JD Vance said the bombers were moved "out of an abundance of caution". The comments came after US media reports suggested the decision was made after intelligence suggested Iran was plotting a drone attack. The BBC has not verified those reports. On Tuesday, a spokesperson for US European Command, which coordinated American military activity in Europe, said it would be "inappropriate to discuss matters of intelligence" but that the US would "continue to assess the threat environment" at bases. The spokesperson added the US remains at the "highest state of readiness" and would take "appropriate actions to protect our people, our platforms, and the bases where our forces operate". Prior to Trump's intervention on Monday, a No 10 spokesperson had insisted RAF Fairford was safe and pointed to his previous comments, where he praised the UK's "police, defence and security services" in relation to the base.
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