British counter-terrorism police launched a major investigation before dawn on Sunday after arresting five men near RAF Fairford, a Gloucestershire base long used by the US Air Force, on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act. The alert began at around 12:45 a.m. when officers received a call about three suspicious white vans traveling toward the base, prompting an armed response that ended with the men detained in the nearby village of Whelford. Bomb disposal teams, including an Army explosive ordnance disposal unit, moved in to examine the vehicles inside a 400-metre cordon, while roughly 85 nearby households were evacuated as a precaution. No injuries have been reported, and all five men remain in custody as investigators work through the early stages of the case.

Footage from the scene showed armed tactical officers holding the rural road under lockdown as a bomb disposal robot approached the vans, some with their rear doors open, in a wooded area near the base. RAF Fairford has served as a forward operating location for US Air Force bombers for decades, most recently hosting B-52 aircraft used in American strikes on Iranian targets earlier this year. Authorities have not confirmed the base was the intended target, but officials on both sides of the Atlantic stressed close coordination, with the US military saying it is working with UK counterparts to safeguard American personnel and the local community, and British officials citing the need to guard against threats from foreign state proxies as the investigation continues.