Sunday saw the arrest of five terrorists suspected of attempting to carry out a bombing at Royal Air Force Fairford in Gloucestershire, Southwest England, used by the US Air Force for its strikes on Iran. Three vans filled with chemicals and possible explosive devices were found.
The five suspects are being held on suspicion of possessing explosives, with MI5 assisting counter-terror police.
Iranian agents are likely to have been directly involved in the suspected plot themselves, rather than operating through proxies, sources familiar with the investigation told the Telegraph.
But there may have been more than just the five. From the Daily Mail:
A hero farmer has revealed how she came face to face with five suspected terrorists and helped foil a major terror attack on an RAF base in the dead of night.
Driving home from a party in the early hours of yesterday morning, she was shocked to see three large white vans blocking a road close to RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.
Her arrival reportedly sent a group of men in balaclavas fleeing into nearby trees and across fields surrounding the base, which was recently used by US aircraft involved in strikes on Iran.
[snip]
The farmer, who has not been named, called 999 and within 25 minutes the five suspects had been rounded up and arrested by armed counter-terrorism officers who are now probing whether the plot is linked to Iran.
The 'Middle Eastern-looking, masked' men were later filmed shirtless amid reports they may have been on a suicide mission armed with explosive vests aimed at destroying a fleet of US B-1 Lancer bombers based at Fairford.
Worryingly, the farmer claimed she had seen more suspects than the five arrested at the scene.
'They probably thought we were the police and panicked,' she said last night.
The farmers suspicions were first aroused because the logos and phone numbers on the trucks were fake. The vans were intended to mimic those of a company whose logo was "Fuel2U" with an arrow, in green and blue lettering, but the terrorists' van said "Fuel 2You" with red lettering and no arrow. Also, the formatting of the numbers in the telephone numbers on the sides of the van were also wrong:
The UK uses a 533 or 56 format for mobile numbers (five numbers followed by a gap then six numbers, or a group of five followed by two groups of three), which would make the number read 07424 182 599 or 07424 182599. In any event, the number is out of service.
Some observers also spotted that the phone number underneath the fake name – 0742 418 2599 – was spaced in 434 format, which is predominantly used in Iran.
Perhaps the terrorists were educated at the Quality Learing Center.
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