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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Brittney Donovan

Trump says RAF Fairford suspects were ‘looking to do big damage’ to base used by US

  • British armed police arrested five men on Sunday near RAF Fairford, a military base in Gloucestershire used by the US Air Force , on suspicion of explosive and terrorism offenses after stopping three vans.
  • Speaking to reporters in the US, President Donald Trump said: “It was fantastic. Working with Britain, it was an amazing job. We had them under investigation. They, they were looking to do big damage to our fort, and working with the British worked out great.”
  • He added, “It may have been Scotland Yard, I don’t know. We worked with a lot of them. We had them under view for a long time, and we got them. Thank you.”
  • The police response was triggered after a local resident spotted around ten hooded and balaclava-wearing men blocking a road in Whelford shortly after midnight and alerted emergency services.
  • Emergency services declared a major incident, establishing a 400-meter cordon and evacuating approximately 85 nearby households as a safety precaution. Aerial footage revealed bomb disposal personnel utilizing a specialized robot to examine three white vans surrounded by scattered black barrels near the military installation.

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