WASHINGTON: The United States has withdrawn all its bombers from Royal Air Force (RAF) Fairford in Britain, the Pentagon confirmed on Sunday.
A Pentagon official told AFP that the bombers, including B-1 aircraft, had returned to their home stations in the United States. Operational security prevented officials from confirming the movements as they happened.
British counterterrorism officers continue to investigate suspicious activity near the airbase in Gloucestershire on September 27. Police evacuated about 85 households while military specialists examined vehicles near the base.
A farmer in nearby Whelford alerted police after seeing three vans blocking a road and masked men fleeing the area. Armed officers arrested five British men from London, all in their mid-20s. Police held them on suspicion of explosives offences and preparation of a terrorist act.
Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of Britain’s National Counter Terrorism Policing, said experts found no improvised explosive devices in the vehicles. Investigators did, however, recover petrol from the vans.
Police released those men on bail on September 28. They remain under investigation, with strict restrictions on their movements and contact with others.
Officers later arrested a sixth suspect, a 25-year-old dual British-Iranian national, in Westminster, London, on Thursday. Police suspected him of preparing terrorist acts and released him on bail on Saturday. Counter Terrorism Policing confirmed searches of two properties in the area have concluded.
US President Donald Trump criticised the original suspects’ release, telling reporters: “I wouldn’t have done that.”
Taylor defended the bail decision as an investigative judgement based on policing powers and public safety.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed a foreign actor had played a role without publicly identifying one. Iran’s embassy in London rejected suggestions of Tehran’s involvement and condemned the speculation.
Read: Iran Plans Military Training for Volunteers in Tehran
British investigators have kept an open mind about possible foreign-state involvement, including activity by proxies or unwitting participants.
Fairford has served as a launch base for US strikes on Iran. Britain gave Washington permission in March to use the facility for specific defensive operations against Iran. Fairford is the only airbase on mainland Britain that US forces have used for this purpose.
