Gloucestershire: A major security alert was sounded at the Fairford Royal Air Force (RAF) base in Gloucestershire in Britain on Sunday, with the police arresting several people under the country’s Explosives Act.
Homes near the base – that hosts assets of the United States Air Force (USAF) – were evacuated. Security measures have been stepped up at the base, Sky News reported.
Gloucestershire police have been quoted as saying that the British Army’s specialist explosive ordnance disposal team was currently examining a number of vehicles in the area and local residents had been evacuated. The Army was examining a number of vehicles after security was stepped up at the base in southwest England.
Armed police were blocking access to the main gate of the base, eyewitnesses told Reuters. Nearly 30 emergency vehicles, including police cars, ambulances and fire engines, were stationed in the village of Fairford near the base.
“A number of properties are currently being evacuated in the Whelford area following the declaration of a major incident. It follows the arrest of several men on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act,” Gloucestershire police said in a statement, referring to a village near the air base, as reported by timesnow.in.
“The Army’s specialist explosive ordnance disposal team is currently examining a number of vehicles,” the police said.
They would not discuss specific force protection measures, a spokesperson for the USAF said.
“The 501st Combat Support Wing and our fellow UK-based Wings remain vigilant and will take appropriate actions to ensure the safety and security of our US service members, civilians, contractors, and their families,” the spokesperson said.
“We constantly assess a variety of factors that determine what measures we institute or modify to protect our installations, our people and their families.”
The British government had granted authorisation to the US to use RAF Fairford to carry out strikes on Iranian missile sites that are attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
In July, Britain said that its armed forces were ready to protect the country from any attack after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards issued a warning not to allow US bombers to fly from Fairford.