5 Britons bailed after arrests near RAF base

Five British nationals have been released on police bail after being arrested near a Royal Air Force base in England in the early hours of Sunday morning on suspicion of offenses under the Explosives and Terrorism Acts.

The men, all from London and aged between 23 and 25, were arrested near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, a base that has recently been used by the United States military, after a local woman raised the alarm when she saw a group of men acting suspiciously near her house.

The woman, who has chosen to remain anonymous, told the BBC "I believe that my (emergency services) call foiled whatever plans they had … I am absolutely staggered that it was left to me as a member of the public to see and report this … someone really dropped the ball on this".

However, hours after counterterrorism policing senior national coordinator Vicki Evans called what was going on "a hugely complex and large-scale operation, involving local and national policing, the Ministry of Defence and local agencies", counterterrorism chief assistant commissioner Laurence Taylor told reporters that after "extensive interviews" the arrested men were being released on bail, but that they "absolutely remain under investigation".

RAF Fairford has been used by the US Air Force as a staging post for bombing raids on Iran, and Taylor said investigating officers were keeping an "open mind" as to whether the "geopolitical context" might be relevant to their investigation.

The woman who first raised the alarm said that she rang the emergency services after finding access to her own property blocked, and nearby were what she described as a "large group of hooded and masked men". When they ran away after seeing her, "I then realized that something highly unusual was taking place".

She claims she tried to contact MOD police at Fairford but without any reply, and after she rang the national emergency services number, "within 10 minutes the village was full of armed police".

Speaking on the annual conference of the governing Labour Party on Monday, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the incident was a reminder that at a time of "heightened threat, we must all remain vigilant", but she could not comment further so as not to interfere with the police investigation.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump claimed that the arrested men, who he said were "looking to do big damage", had been under surveillance for a long time, adding "It was fantastic. Working with Britain, it was an amazing job."

UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said "Our security services and our police, they don't ask for praise, but I think it was a proud moment yesterday to see the president of the United States recognize the extraordinary work that our police and our security and intelligence services do, every day throughout the year, and throughout the world, to keep us safe."