US withdraws all bomber aircraft from UK airbase

The United States confirmed Sunday that it has withdrawn all B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford, a British airbase at the centre of a counter-terrorism probe after a mysterious security incident last month. Police were called to the base in southwest England on September 27 after a local farmer reported a group of men with several vans engaged in "suspicious" activity. The scare forced evacuations at 85 homes near the airbase, which was used by the United States to launch strikes on Iran. Investigators did not find any explosives in the vans, but instead "a quantity of petrol was recovered," according to counter-terrorism police. A statement from a Pentagon official said Sunday "we can acknowledge now that all U.S. bombers that were deployed to RAF Fairford have re-deployed to their home stations in the United States." The statement noted that "operational security precluded us from confirming the movement of our assets and forces in real-time." Speculation about the motives behind the incident ranged from terror threat to fuel thievery, as energy prices in the UK hit record highs this week. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said there were "strong indications that Iran played a part" in the incident, a charge rejected by Tehran. Six London-based Britons arrested in the incident, including a UK-Iranian dual national, all men in their mid-20s, were released on bail, drawing rebuke from Washington. "I wouldn't have done that," US President Donald Trump told reporters, as his Secretary of State Marco Rubio alleged a "foreign actor" was involved. Iran's embassy in London has said it "categorically rejects and strongly condemns" speculation that Tehran was involved. - Heightened security - Adding to the mystery, British media reported that officers were alerted to the incident by one of the initial suspects but police have not commented on the reports. Security at the base had reportedly been heightened recently. Britain gave Washington permission in March to use Fairford for "specific defensive operations into Iran," and US bombers and other planes have since been seen taking off and landing from the base. Fairford is the only airbase on Britain's mainland used for this purpose. The incident came after a farmer living in the village of Whelford, near the airbase, called the police after seeing three vans blocking a road and a group of masked men fleeing the scene. Aerial footage of the vans showed they appeared to contain barrels, and at least one was marked with a fake logo and phone number, giving the false impression that it was owned by a legitimate diesel delivery firm. sla/jgc/abs/hol