The United Kingdom’s Head of Counter Terrorism Policing, Laurence Taylor, announced that police released five men arrested on suspicion of terrorism on bail.
These five men, all in their 20s and British nationals from London, were arrested for allegedly plotting an attack on the British Royal Air Force (RAF) base at Fairford, which is used by the U.S.
- The five men are being released following “extensive interviews and inquiries”
- The investigation continues and the men are subject to “stringent conditions on their movement and contact with others” and “absolutely remain under investigation”
- Taylor said the men had been arrested on suspicion of explosives offences and later on suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act
- He said the three vehicles the men had been travelling in have been subject to “extensive examination” with support from military and forensic experts
- CTP hopes to reduce their presence at the scene “later today” and “get residents back to their homes”
Taylor added that CTP are keeping an “open mind” as to whether the “geopolitical context” is a factor in their investigation.
He says police are “considering this from every angle”, including whether the incident was “committed by proxies or individuals… working on behalf of a foreign state”.
🚨 WATCH: Counter Terror Police statement on the five men in the RAF Fairford case being released on bail
– They still remain under investigation
– This may be activity committed by proxies for a foreign state
– Suspects often commit these acts for financial gain pic.twitter.com/xmdzKc9D1t— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) September 28, 2026
The U.S. uses the base to carry out strikes on Iran, which is one reason why the police have been investigating whether Iran had a hand in the alleged plot.
Iran has denied any involvement.
So…did officials overstate the severity of the situation, or is the UK being soft? Taylor’s statement sounds like it’s possible a state sponsored the alleged attack.
“We are considering this from every possible angle, including that this may be actively committed by proxies or individuals, either knowingly or unknowingly working on behalf of a foreign state to respond to incidents such as these,” Taylor said at the press conference.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood makes it sound like the police foiled an attack.
“To all those who mean us harm and plot violence on our soil, let this be a reminder you will never defeat us,” Mahmood said.
As BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said:
The announcement this afternoon by the head of Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) that all five men arrested outside RAF Fairford airbase early on Sunday are to be released on bail sits at odds with our being told this was a “major incident” and talk of disaster averted.
The men, all young UK nationals from London, are still under investigation. But the fact they are no longer in custody dramatically reduces the scale of how big or how dangerous a plot this was alleged to be.
These men showed up to RAF Fairford in the middle of the night, drove close to the perimeter, and wore balaclavas. It sounds like this plot could have been awful:
British police said on Sunday they had arrested five men on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act and the army was examining a number of vehicles after security was stepped up at a British air base used by US air forces in southwest England.
Counter-terrorism detectives leading the investigation said police had received a call about three suspicious vehicles that appeared to be travelling towards RAF Fairford in the early hours of Sunday.
—
US President Donald Trump alleged to reporters that the suspects had been “looking to do big damage”.
“We had them under view for a long time, and we got them,” he said, saying that the suspects had been under investigation by both British and US authorities.
“The fact that a Cobra national security meeting has been convened to discuss this incident shows it is being taken extremely seriously by the government,” added Gardner. “And yet now, as it stands on Monday afternoon, it leaves us with more questions than answers.”
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