{"id":225843,"date":"2026-09-28T11:38:26","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T11:38:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/bomb-squad-searching-vans-near-u-s-air-base-in-britain-as-five-men-arrested-on-terrorism-charge-nbcnews-com\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T11:38:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T11:38:26","slug":"bomb-squad-searching-vans-near-u-s-air-base-in-britain-as-five-men-arrested-on-terrorism-charge-nbcnews-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/bomb-squad-searching-vans-near-u-s-air-base-in-britain-as-five-men-arrested-on-terrorism-charge-nbcnews-com\/","title":{"rendered":"Bomb squad searching vans near U.S. air base in Britain as five men arrested on terrorism charge – nbcnews.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

Morning Rundown: U.S. Marines injured in undisclosed Iranian attack, the MAGA push to derail last Jan. 6 prosecution, and Taylor Swift sets VMAs record<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

For You
Settings
news Alerts
There are no new alerts at this time
LONDON \u2014 British police arrested several men on suspicion of terrorism and explosives offenses Sunday and evacuated homes near an air base that the U.S. Air Force had been using to facilitate strikes on Iran.<\/a>
A major incident was declared, with a massive emergency presence seen around RAF Fairford, which is about 90 minutes outside London, close to the village of Whelford in western England.
The Gloucestershire police force said it responded in the early hours of Sunday to reports of three suspicious vehicles moving toward the base, and arrested five men \u201con suspicion of committing offenses under the Explosives Act.\u201d They were later further charged on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act.
Police did not provide further details on the men, who remain in custody, or what they were suspected to have done. \u201cWork to establish the full nature of this incident is ongoing,\u201d Assistant Chief Constable Richard Ocone said.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans of Counter Terrorism Policing said the force is \u201cworking closely with our partners to understand the circumstances of the incident,\u201d with the investigation still in its \u201cearly stages.\u201d
Ocone said 85 homes across the local area were evacuated and a 440-yard cordon put in place while an Army ordnance disposal team examines the vehicles.
Helicopter footage from Sky News showed multiple white vans close to the base seemingly being searched by a bomb disposal robot.
Julian Tudsbery, who has lived in Whelford for 30 years, told Britain\u2019s Press Association another resident had reported three suspicious vans in the village. Along with other residents, Tudsbery has since been evacuated to a nearby recreation center.
The Reuters news agency had reported that security measures at the air \u200cbase have been significantly increased in recent \u200cdays.
Cotswold District Council member Tristan Wilkinson told NBC News that a threat to the base from Iran about six weeks ago has heightened the alert level in the community and led to a ramped-up police presence and an increase in security patrols.
Wilkinson noted there is \u201ca lot more vigilance from the local community\u201d and that police in this instance \u201chave done exactly what you\u2019d hope they would do in increasing reassurance for the community.\u201d
\u201cThis is a worry and escalation, and we wait to see what the nature of that actual incident is going to be,\u201d the official added.
A U.S. European Command spokesperson said: \u201cFor operational security reasons we will not discuss specific force protection measures.\u201d
\u201cU.S. European Command remains vigilant and will take appropriate actions to ensure the safety and security of our U.S. service members, civilians, contractors, and their families across the European theater,\u201d the spokesperson added. \u201cWe constantly assess a variety of factors that determine what measures we institute or modify to protect our installations, our people and their families.\u201d
Asked about the incident Sunday after walking off Air Force One, President Donald Trump told reporters the arrest was an \u201camazing job.\u201d
\u201cThey were looking to do big damage to our fort, and working with the British worked out great,\u201d he said.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said in a post on X: \u201cI know today\u2019s incident near RAF Fairford will be deeply concerning for local residents and for many people following developments across the country.\u201d
\u201cThe safety and security of the public is our first priority, and I want people to know that we will always take every step necessary to protect our communities and keep our country safe,\u201d he added.
\u201cThe investigation remains ongoing, and I would urge people not to speculate while the authorities establish the full facts,\u201d Burnham said.
In March, Keir Starmer<\/a>, Burnham\u2019s predecessor, gave permission for the U.S. to use its bases for \u201cspecific and limited defensive\u201d operations against Iran.
In July, Iran\u2019s \u2060Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned Britain that \u201cany base used to invade Iranian territory is our legitimate target,\u201d Iran\u2019s semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported, citing bomber aircraft flights from Fairford.
At the time, a British government spokesperson said that the country was \u201cready to keep the United Kingdom safe from any kind of attacks, whether it\u2019s on our soil or from abroad.\u201d
Freddie Clayton is a freelance journalist based in London.\u00a0
Courtney Kube is a correspondent covering national security and the military for the NBC News Investigative Unit.
Raf Sanchez is a foreign correspondent for NBC News.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Morning Rundown: U.S. Marines injured in undisclosed Iranian attack, the MAGA push to derail last Jan. 6 prosecution, and Taylor Swift sets VMAs record For YouSettings news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeLONDON \u2014 British police arrested several men on suspicion of terrorism and explosives offenses Sunday and evacuated homes near an air […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":225844,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-225843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}