LONDON — Police evacuated residents from a cluster of homes in western England on Sunday and detained several men on suspicion of explosives offenses, in an operation unfolding beside an air base that U.S. forces have used for limited strikes during the war with Iran.
Gloucestershire police said people living in “a number of properties” in Whelford, a village in Gloucestershire, were moved to a nearby leisure center as a precaution. The force said the situation had been “contained” and that a cordon remained in place.
Arrests Under the Explosives Act
According to police, several men were arrested on suspicion of offenses under the Explosives Act. Army bomb-disposal specialists were called in to examine several vehicles as part of the investigation.
Officers did not confirm whether the arrests were connected to the air base. Counter-terrorism police have taken the lead on the investigation, a standard step in incidents of this kind in Britain.
“A cordon is currently in place, but we’d like to reassure people that we believe this incident is contained,” Gloucestershire police said in a statement.
Whelford sits close to RAF Fairford, a base that American forces have used for strictly limited strikes during the conflict with Iran. After the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began on Feb. 28, the British government authorized the U.S. military to use Fairford to strike Iranian missile sites.
The timing places the police operation in a heightened security environment for installations connected to that campaign. Officials have not drawn a public link between the detentions and the base, and police have released no information about what the bomb-disposal teams found, if anything, in the vehicles they were examining.
Government Response
Defense Secretary Wes Streeting thanked the emergency and specialist teams who responded to the incident, saying the public could take reassurance from how it was being handled.
“We can be reassured that this is being dealt with,” Streeting said.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham is receiving updates on the situation, according to his office.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Air Force said personnel stationed at RAF Fairford “remain vigilant,” while declining to discuss specific force protection measures for security reasons.
“We constantly assess a variety of factors that determine what measures we institute or modify to protect our installations, our people and their families,” the spokesperson said.
RAF Fairford is a forward-operating location for the U.S. military and has hosted American bomber aircraft over the years. Its role in the Iran campaign has made it a focal point of security planning, though British and American officials have consistently declined to detail the protective measures in place there.
For residents of Whelford, Sunday brought a sudden disruption: homes emptied, a cordon thrown up, and bomb-disposal experts working on vehicles near their doorsteps. Police have not said how long the cordon will remain, how many people were evacuated, or how many men are in custody. They also have not described the nature of the suspected explosives offenses.
The investigation is being handled under counter-terrorism procedures, which in Britain can be applied when police suspect an incident may be linked to terrorism but does not in itself confirm a terror connection. No charges have been announced, and the men detained have not been publicly identified.
Police asked anyone with information to come forward as the examination of the vehicles continued. Further updates are expected as the investigation develops.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2026/09/27/evacuations-near-royal-air-force-base-used-by-u-s-after-men-arrested-with-suspected-explosives/