Several men arrested and bomb disposal team deployed near air base used by US forces in England

Several men have been arrested on suspicion of crimes linked to explosives in a village near an air base used by US forces, police in southwest England said on Sunday.

Gloucestershire Police said they had declared a major incident and evacuated “a number of properties” in the Whelford area following the arrest of “several men on suspicion of offenses under the Explosives Act”, referring to the country’s laws regarding explosives.

Authorities also said a bomb squad was on site to examine a number of vehicles.

Some local residents were evacuated, police said, and a cordon was established, but the incident was said to be “contained.”

The town of Whelford is close to RAF Fairford, a base that US forces used for strictly limited strikes during the war with Iran. After the US-Israeli war with Iran began on February 28, the British government authorized the US military to use the Fairford base to strike Iranian missile sites.

However, police would not confirm to The Associated Press whether the arrests were linked to the base.

A US Air Force spokesperson said its personnel based at RAF Fairford “remain vigilant” but would not discuss specific force protection measures due to security concerns.

“We constantly evaluate a variety of factors that determine the measures we institute or modify to protect our facilities, our employees and their families,” the spokesperson said.

Security measures have been significantly increased in recent days at Air Baise, according to an eyewitness cited by the Reuters news agency who said there had been more roadblocks and armed police preventing access.

A UK government spokesperson thanked emergency services for acting quickly and added that it would be “inappropriate to comment further while investigations are ongoing”.

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