A family playing cricket near RAF Fairford was told by armed personnel to leave the area due to a ‘live incident’ at the base, an extraordinary eyewitness account reveals. The incident occurred at about 4.30pm last Saturday close to the Gloucestershire military installation. Two armed guards approached the family near the boundary fence and instructed them to vacate the vicinity immediately.
This warning came more than eight hours before a 999 call reporting suspicious activity near the neighbouring village of Whelford at around 12.45am on Sunday prompted a large-scale armed police response. One member of the cricket party, who had used the same spot the previous evening without issue, described the change in circumstances on Saturday as significant. He said that guards ran towards the fence with guns and told them it was unsafe due to an ongoing live incident.
Following the early Sunday morning events, five British men in their 20s from London were detained on suspicion of explosives offences and preparing terrorist acts. The family’s statement raises questions about what was happening at RAF Fairford in the hours before police action began.
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Local residents in Dunfield, close to the base, reported hearing a public-address announcement from within RAF Fairford that Saturday evening. The airfield has served as a site for United States military operations related to Iran amid ongoing tensions between Washington and Tehran.
On Sunday morning, a woman returning to Whelford reported seeing masked individuals and three suspicious vehicles near her home. Armed police quickly responded, conducting thorough searches of the vehicles with help from military and forensic experts. Although no improvised explosive devices were found, petrol was seized during the operation.
It is believed one of the detained men contacted police themselves. The motives behind the actions remain under investigation. All five suspects were released on police bail but face restrictions on their movement and communication as inquiries continue.
The investigation widened on Thursday with the arrest of a sixth suspect in Westminster, a 25-year-old holding dual British-Iranian nationality. He was detained on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts, with searches conducted at two nearby properties. He was subsequently released on bail.
Counter Terrorism Policing confirmed the ongoing investigation into the events near RAF Fairford. Approximately 85 households in Whelford were evacuated during the initial police operation as bomb disposal teams examined three vans inside a large cordon.