Five men bailed without charge after arrests near RAF Fairford air base

What happened

Five men arrested on suspicion of carrying explosives and involvement in a terror plot near RAF Fairford in England have been released on bail without immediate charge. Police said all five are UK nationals from London.

Counter-terror police said they first became aware of three vehicles travelling towards the base at 12.45am on Sunday. A local farmer called 999 at 1.36am after the vans blocked the entrance to her drive. The vans were about a mile from the base.

British officials said the arrests were not led by intelligence, but came from last-minute warnings on the ground. More than 24 hours of searches have followed, and nothing has been reported that would prompt further police action. Police have not said what explosives or chemicals, if any, were found, or whether any viable device was in the vans.

RAF Fairford is the European home of US air force bombers and has been used by the US in its bombing campaign against Iran. On 23 July, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said any bases used by the US to attack Iran, including Fairford, were "legitimate targets". Whether Iran had any link to the men is an open question.

US President Donald Trump has claimed the US and UK had been monitoring the men for "a long time" and that they were trying to do "big damage". UK sources say the threat level at Fairford has been at the highest level for several days, but that this related to wider concerns about threats to US bases, not to the site specifically.

Key facts

• Five men were arrested on suspicion of carrying explosives and involvement in a terror plot.
• They have been released on bail without immediate charge.
• Police said all five are UK nationals from London.
• Three vans were near RAF Fairford in the early hours of Sunday, about a mile from the base.
• A farmer called 999 at 1.36am after the vans blocked her driveway.
• British officials said the arrests were not intelligence-led.

What happens next

Investigators are continuing their inquiries, and the five men remain on bail while police work out what led them to the village. Counter-terror police have not yet said what was found in the vans.

Still to be confirmed

• Why the five men and three vans were near the base.
• What explosives or chemicals, if any, were found, and whether there was a viable device.
• Whether Iran had any involvement.
• Whether the men were being monitored beforehand, as Trump claimed, given officials say the arrests were not intelligence-led.