Several men have been arrested on suspicion of crimes related to explosives at a village near a Royal Air Force base used by U.S. bombers, police in southwestern England said on Sunday. British counterterrorism police took over the investigation.
Police in Gloucestershire said it had declared a major incident and evacuated “a number of properties” in the Whelford area following the arrest of “several men on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act,” referring to the country’s laws around explosives.
The authorities also said a bomb disposal team were on site examining some vehicles.
Some local residents were evacuated, police said, and a cordon was established but the incident is said to be “contained.”
The town of Whelford is close to RAF Fairford, a base that American forces have used for strictly limited strikes during the war with Iran. After the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran on Feb. 28, the U.K. government allowed the American military to use the Fairford base to strike Iranian missile sites.
However, police did not confirm to the Associated Press whether the arrests were linked to the base.
One evacuated resident told the BBC, CBS News’ international partner, that three “unusual vans” appeared in the area near Fairford air base overnight.
Speaking to the BBC, Julian Tubsbery, who was evacuated from his home in the early hours of Sunday, said that “there were these three vans that arrived in the middle of the village and a resident reported them to the police straight away.”
Helicopter footage aired on BBC News showed a wheeled robot operating near three parked white vans near the base. However, the police have not yet confirmed which vehicles were being examined, or if they were connected with the incident.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Air Force said its personnel based at RAF Fairford “remain vigilant” but would not 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.
The U.S. military’s European Command said it would not discuss specific force protection measures, but added it would “take appropriate actions to ensure the safety and security of our U.S. service members, civilians, contractors, and their families across the European theater.”
Security measures have been significantly increased in recent days at the air base, according to an eyewitness quoted by the Reuters news agency who said there had been more roadblocks and armed police preventing access.
A spokesperson for the U.K. government thanked emergency services for acting quickly and added that it would be “inappropriate to comment further whilst investigations are ongoing.”
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