British armed police swarmed a road near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire in the early hours of Sunday morning, stopping three suspicious vans after a resident's 999 call reported men behaving strangely near the base's perimeter. Five men were arrested on suspicion of explosives offenses and preparing a terrorist act, and remain in custody as counter-terrorism police lead the investigation. Army explosives experts moved in to examine the vehicles inside a 400-meter cordon, while roughly 85 nearby households were evacuated as a precaution. Police have stressed the operation was not intelligence-led and have not officially confirmed that RAF Fairford, which hosts US Air Force bombers, was the intended target.

President Trump praised the arrests, saying the plotters were "looking to do big damage to our fort" and that authorities had "had them under view for a long time" before moving in. He called the joint US-UK response "an amazing job," adding that the suspects had already been under investigation. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham thanked Gloucestershire Police and the armed forces for their work, while urging the public "not to speculate while the authorities establish the full facts." With the men still being questioned and the investigation in its early stages, officials on both sides of the Atlantic say more details are expected as the case develops.