{"id":629064,"date":"2026-09-27T12:06:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T12:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/629064\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T12:06:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T12:06:10","slug":"uk-police-evacuate-homes-near-raf-fairford-airbase-used-by-us-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/629064\/","title":{"rendered":"UK police evacuate homes near RAF Fairford airbase used by US | News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"article__subhead\">Police say they have arrested several men on suspicion of explosives-related offences and bomb disposal experts are examining vehicles.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"avatar\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-hidden=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/author\/al_jazeera_staff_150119130629458\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790510770_158_2017-06-08T131939Z_1189275883_RC11B0FE7F20_RTRMADP_3_GULF-QATAR-JAZEERA-1714943623.jpg\"   aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Published On 27 Sep 202627 Sep 2026<\/p>\n<p>Police have evacuated homes near an airbase in the United Kingdom used by the United States military and arrested several men on suspicion of explosives-related offences.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe army\u2019s specialist explosive ordnance disposal team are currently \u2060examining a number of vehicles,\u201d Gloucestershire police said on Sunday, adding that \u201ca major incident\u201d had been declared.<\/p>\n<p>Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n<p>Residents from a number of properties in Whelford, southwestern England, were being taken to a nearby leisure centre. Police said several men had been arrested \u201con suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The town is located near RAF Fairford, an airbase that US forces have used for strikes during the US-Israel war on Iran.<\/p>\n<p>A reporter from the Reuters news agency at the scene said armed police had blocked access to the base\u2019s main gate, while equipment had been placed in front of entry points.<\/p>\n<p>About 30 emergency vehicles, including police cars, ambulances and fire engines, were stationed in the nearby town of Fairford.<\/p>\n<p>Gloucestershire police said in a statement they would like \u201cto reassure people that we believe this incident is contained\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Britain\u2019s Defence Secretary Wes Streeting thanked the emergency and specialist teams who responded to the incident.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can be reassured that this is being dealt with,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Prime Minister Andy Burnham is receiving updates on the situation, his office said.<\/p>\n<p>There was no immediate information about what prompted the arrests, whether explosives were found, or if the suspected offences were connected to the airbase.<\/p>\n<p>The US Air Force said it was aware of reports about the incident but declined to discuss specific security measures.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson said the 501st Combat Support Wing, a US Air Force unit in Britain, and other US units based in the UK remained vigilant and would take steps needed to protect personnel and their families.<\/p>\n<p>In March, three US B-1B Lancer bombers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/newsfeed\/2026\/3\/12\/al-jazeera-sees-bombs-being-loaded-onto-us-planes-at-uk-base\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">touched down<\/a> at RAF Fairford after what is believed to be the first US strike mission <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/3\/12\/iran-war-what-is-happening-on-day-13-of-us-israel-attacks\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">against Iran<\/a> launched from a British base, during the war on Iran.<\/p>\n<p>Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a powerful military force that operates alongside the country\u2019s regular armed forces, warned in July that bases used to launch attacks on Iran could be treated as legitimate targets.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities have not linked Sunday\u2019s arrests to Iran or said RAF Fairford was a target.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Police say they have arrested several men on suspicion of explosives-related offences and bomb disposal experts are examining&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629065,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[63,42,43,40,38,41,39,1299],"class_list":["post-629064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-europe","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-united-kingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}