US withdraws all bombers from RAF Fairford after security incident

The United States has withdrawn all its bombers from RAF Fairford in Britain and returned them to bases in the United States, the Pentagon confirmed Sunday, as British counterterrorism police investigate a security incident near the airfield.

“While operational security precluded us from confirming the movement of our assets and forces in real time, we can acknowledge now that all US bombers that were deployed to RAF Fairford have re-deployed to their home stations in the United States,” a Pentagon spokesperson said, according to The Guardian.

The Pentagon did not give a reason for the withdrawal. The BBC reported that Whitehall sources did not dispute that Washington’s decision was a response to the incident. It said the move was a military decision made at an operational level and communicated to British military counterparts. The UK Ministry of Defence has not commented.

The Guardian reported that at least 10 of 12 B-1 bombers flew out of Fairford on Sunday, including some that had arrived less than a week earlier. It cited a New York Times report saying American officials had declined to identify new information behind the rapid withdrawal. One US official told the Times that details of earlier threat warnings and a sense of urgency had intensified in the preceding 24 hours.

The investigation began after police were alerted to three suspicious vehicles near the Gloucestershire base. The BBC dates that incident to Sept. 27; CBS News gives the date as Oct. 27. Five British men from London, aged 23 to 25, were arrested on suspicion of explosives offences and later of preparing a terrorist act. CBS News reported that police found gasoline, described as an accelerant, in three vans linked to the men, but no explosives.

All five were released on bail. Police described that release as an “investigative decision” grounded in “experience and strategy,” according to the BBC. A sixth suspect, a 25-year-old dual British-Iranian national, was arrested in London on Thursday on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act. Counterterrorism police said Saturday that he, too, had been released on bail.

Days after the incident, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there were “strong indications” Iran had played a part, the BBC reported. He gave no further details, and Tehran has strongly denied involvement. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Fox News that the incident “clearly involve[d] the hands of a foreign actor,” without elaborating. President Donald Trump said he was “surprised” the first five suspects had been released: “We know everything about them, we would not have released them,” he said, adding that the UK had worked “very closely” with the US.

Fairford has served for decades as a forward operating location for the US Air Force. US bombers have recently flown from the base toward the Middle East after Britain approved its use for defensive strikes on Iran. In July, Iran said “any base used for aggression against Iranian territory constitutes a legitimate target for our forces.”