Five men have been arrested and remain in custody as counter-terror police are leading an investigation into a major incident near RAF Fairford
They were arrested on suspicion of committing offences under the Explosives Act, and have been further arrested on suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act
Gloucestershire Police say the force received a call at about 00:45 BST on Sunday morning relating to “three suspicious vehicles” travelling towards the RAF base
At a news conference, Assistant Chief Constable Richard Ocone says “work to establish the full nature of the incident is ongoing”, as 85 homes have been evacuated
Helicopter footage shows robots approaching vans at the scene as a British Army bomb disposal team is carrying out operations
RAF Fairford has long been used as a forward operating location by the US military. The country’s Air Force says it “remains vigilant” following the incident
The context for this is troubling and comes amid a rising number of incidents across Europe of what’s termed “hybrid warfare”, our security correspondent Frank Gardner writes
