Foiled terror plot: Five arrested near key U.S. bomber base after explosives found in three vans

BS BULLETIN:

Five men were arrested on terrorism charges near RAF Fairford in England, a strategically important base used by the U.S. Air Force.
British authorities were examining suspected explosive devices found in three vans reportedly traveling toward the base.
Investigators are examining whether Iran could be connected, but authorities have not publicly identified who was behind the suspected plot or established a motive.

Five men. Three vans. Suspected explosives.

And just a couple of miles from a military base housing some of America’s most important strategic bombers.

British counterterrorism police are investigating a suspected terror plot near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire after five men were arrested and suspected explosive devices were discovered in three vans.

The men were initially detained under Britain’s Explosives Act before being arrested on suspicion of terrorism offenses.

The target is what makes the story particularly alarming.

RAF Fairford is a British base used extensively by the U.S. Air Force and capable of supporting American B-1 and B-52 strategic bombers. It has taken on even greater importance during the conflict with Iran.

President Donald Trump said Sunday that the suspects intended to inflict serious damage.

“They were looking to do big damage to our fort,” Trump told reporters, adding that U.S. and British authorities had worked together on the matter.

Exactly what the suspects intended to do remains under investigation.

Former Defense Intelligence Agency official Andrew Badger told Fox News Digital that five suspects and three vans suggested the possibility of something considerably more organized than a lone-wolf attack.

“This could have been a very complex, highly orchestrated operation,” Badger said.

He raised one possible scenario in which a vehicle-borne explosive could have been used at the entrance while additional vehicles attempted to penetrate the base.

That is an expert’s assessment of what the suspects potentially could have attempted — not a publicly established description of their actual plan.

Then there’s the Iran question.

British investigators are examining whether Tehran could have a connection to the suspected plot, but no such link has been established publicly.

That possibility is receiving intense attention because RAF Fairford has been used by American bombers during the Iran conflict, and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps previously warned that bases used for attacks on Iranian territory could themselves be considered targets.

Badger cautioned against jumping to conclusions, noting that investigators would also have to consider other possible actors, including Russia and Islamist extremists.

But he said the incident could have consequences far beyond one British airfield.

“We are going to see elevated security protocols across Europe, across the U.K., and across the entire world for any U.S. installation,” Badger told Fox.

And Fairford isn’t the only sensitive American military facility nearby.

Badger pointed to RAF Welford, a major U.S. ammunition storage installation supporting Fairford, as another facility that security officials will likely be watching closely.

For now, British authorities have five suspects in custody and a potentially enormous question to answer:

Was this an isolated suspected terror plot — or evidence of a broader threat aimed at American military installations?