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    "original_url": "https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/09\/28\/world\/europe\/us-air-base-uk-terror-incident-fairford.html?emc=edit_nn_20260929&nl=the-morning&segment_id=227235",
    "parsed_content": "Incident at U.K. Air BaseThe LatestWhat to KnowSuspects ReleasedA Rural\u00a0Area in the SpotlightAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTSupported bySKIP ADVERTISEMENTRelease of 5 Men in U.K. Prompts New Questions Over Possible Terror PlotThe British counterterrorism police said the five British nationals arrested near R.A.F. Fairford on Sunday were being released on bail but remained under investigation.Listen \u00b7 9:05 min Share full articleVideoBritish Police Release on Bail Five Men Arrested Over Possible Terror PlotBritish counterterrorism police said they would release all five men who were arrested on Sunday for a possible terror plot at R.A.F. Fairford, a base used by the United States in its war against Iran.CreditCredit...Toby Shepheard\/ReutersBy Michael D. ShearReporting from Liverpool, EnglandSept. 28, 2026See more of our coverage in your search results.Encuentra m\u00e1s de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de b\u00fasqueda. Add The New York Times on GoogleAgrega The New York Times en Google The counterterrorism police in Britain on Monday said that five men arrested Sunday near an air base were being released on bail, an unexpected development in what officials originally said was a major incident involving a possible terrorist act.The five men were taken into custody early Sunday morning near the perimeter of the sprawling R.A.F. Fairford base in southern England. Nearby homes were evacuated as bomb detection robots searched three white vans. Officials initially said the men were suspected of violating the Explosives Act and of preparing to commit a terrorist act.Laurence Taylor, who leads Britain\u2019s counterterrorism police, said in a brief statement to reporters Monday afternoon that the men would remain under investigation and would be subject to \u201cstringent conditions on their movement and contact with others.\u201dBut their release raised new questions about what happened near the base, how the men managed to drive three vans so close to an area where American bombers are stationed and whether the British Army\u2019s bomb disposal unit had failed to find any evidence after examining the vehicles for more than 24 hours.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTBritain\u2019s national security laws give the authorities widespread latitude to detain terror suspects, so the decision to grant the five men bail suggests the police may not have found enough to link them to a specific act. The British counterterrorism police have not named the men, in line with policing rules that grant anonymity unless a person is charged.The release of the men, who the police said were all British nationals in their early 20s, came less than 24 hours after President Trump told reporters on Sunday that the suspects had intended to do \u201cbig damage\u201d to the British air base. Mr. Trump praised the country\u2019s police, describing their efforts as \u201cfantastic\u201d and \u201camazing,\u201d and said of the men, \u201cWe had them under view for a long time and we got them.\u201dImageAn American B1 bomber on the tarmac at R.A.F. Fairford on Monday.Credit...Leon Neal\/Getty ImagesThe police in Britain did not confirm Mr. Trump\u2019s suggestion that the authorities in both countries had the suspects \u201cunder view.\u201d Mr. Taylor said he was aware of speculation about what might have been known in advance but told reporters, \u201cI will not always be able to share this type of information.\u201dOn Monday, Mr. Trump said the men might be connected to Iran but refused to elaborate, adding: \u201cI know the answer. I can be very specific, but I\u2019d rather not say it.\u201d He also expressed surprise at the decision to release the men.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\u201cI wouldn\u2019t have done that,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cWe know everything about them. We would not have released them.\u201dWant to stay updated on what\u2019s happening in the United Kingdom? Sign up for Your Places: Global Update, and we\u2019ll send our latest coverage to your inbox.Earlier on Monday, Prime Minister Andy Burnham had urged people not to speculate. \u201cThe investigation remains ongoing,\u201d Mr. Burnham said. He asked British residents to let the police \u201cestablish the full facts.\u201d He later convened members of his national security cabinet for a closed-door briefing on the status of the investigation.Public details about the incident remain murky at best.Investigators arrested the five men in the early hours of Sunday morning, and a bomb disposal robot spent most of Sunday cautiously examining three white vans while 85 families living nearby were evacuated from their homes.On Monday, armed police officers staffed roadblocks on the country roads leading to the air base. And more than a day after the police first made the arrests, the tiny village of Whelford, one of three on the outskirts of the base, remained entirely cordoned off.A farmer told the BBC that she had called the police early on Sunday morning after seeing a large group of hooded and masked men in the fields near the base. The farmer, whom the BBC did not identify, said she was shocked that it was left to her as a member of the public to see and report the men.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTHer timeline appeared to conflict with the one given out by the police. She told the BBC that she called the local emergency number at 1:36 a.m. on Sunday. The police have said that they received the first call at 12:45 a.m. and that the men were arrested shortly after.Wes Streeting, the British defense secretary, praised the farmer in an interview with BBC Radio on Monday morning, while suggesting that she had only a limited picture of what had unfolded.\u201cI want to pay tribute to that member of the public for her vigilance,\u201d he said. \u201cShe\u2019s done exactly what we would hope a member of the public would do in the situation she found herself in.\u201dBut he added, \u201cShe will of course only have had a partial view, and I don\u2019t want to go beyond and stray into kind of operational and security detail at this stage.\u201dThe prime minister\u2019s plea to avoid speculation has done little to dampen conjecture that the suspected plot at R.A.F. Fairford might be linked to the war in Iran. American bombers have conducted long-range strikes on the country from the base since the United States and Israel attacked in February.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\u201cIf it is Iran-related, it could be hard-liners trying to undermine Iranian government efforts to negotiate a settlement of the war with the U.S., or proxies such as Hezbollah, unhappy that Iran is not paying sufficient attention to their interests,\u201d said Antonio Giustozzi, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a security think tank in London.ImageAn armored vehicle patrols the interior of the R.A.F. Fairford base, from where American bombers have conducted long-range strikes on Iran, on Monday.Credit...Ben Stansall\/Agence France-Presse \u2014 Getty ImagesAnother possibility is that Tehran may have \u201cdecided negotiations with Trump are going nowhere, despite recent Iranian concessions, and that the pressure has to go up,\u201d Mr. Giustozzi said.Mr. Taylor, the counterterrorism police chief, acknowledged the widespread speculation about whether the men were connected to a hostile foreign country such as Iran or Russia.He declined to confirm that but said that the police were \u201cconsidering 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.\u201dAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTHe added: \u201cI have spoken before about the increasing breadth and complexity of the threats we are facing. Often this threat becomes visible to us as criminal activity, often at a small scale and committed by individuals whose primary aim is not terrorism but a quick financial gain.\u201dIran\u2019s Embassy in London said in a statement Monday that it \u201ccategorically rejects and strongly condemns\u201d what it called \u201cunfounded and malicious speculations\u201d that Iran was involved in the air base incident.Former Prime Minister Keir Starmer initially refused to allow British bases to be used by the United States to strike Iran, provoking Mr. Trump\u2019s ire. But after Iran conducted drone strikes on British allies across the Middle East, Mr. Starmer changed course and said he would allow what he called \u201cdefensive\u201d American strikes on Iran from Fairford. That prompted a furious debate in Britain, including repeated protests near the base by activists who oppose the U.S.-Israeli war.Mr. Burnham, who replaced Mr. Starmer in July, quietly continued that policy.On July 23, a few days after Mr. Burnham became prime minister, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps of Iran warned Britain that the government\u2019s decision to allow strikes from one of its bases would make it \u201ca legitimate target for our forces.\u201dResidents of three villages near the base \u2014 Whelford, Kempsford and the town of Fairford \u2014 have had a front-row seat to the American bombers that have been flying in and out of the base with renewed frequency since the start of the war with Iran earlier this year, swooping low over the town.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTOn Monday afternoon, a 1,300-foot cordon around the trucks remained in place and many local residents had not yet been allowed to go back. Mr. Taylor said efforts were underway to let the families return as soon as possible.If Iran was linked to the incident near the British base, it would likely add to the public\u2019s deep skepticism about the war. In public surveys, large majorities of the British public have said they do not support Mr. Trump\u2019s decision to attack Iran.In one survey from March, about three-quarters of the respondents expressed concern over the war\u2019s impact on Britain\u2019s security. In the same survey, more than 80 percent expressed concern about the conflict\u2019s consequences for the British economy.Megan Specia contributed reporting from Fairford, England, and Adam Goldman contributed reporting from London.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT",
    "published_at": "2026-09-28T10:12:47+00:00",
    "author_name": "Michael D. Shear",
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    "ai_headline": "Release of 5 Men in U.K. Prompts New Questions Over Possible Terror Plot",
    "ai_simplified_title": "UK Police Release 5 Men on Bail After RAF Fairford Terror Incident",
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