President Donald Trump has said the US moved its bombers out of RAF Fairford because of “some threats” to the base.
The Pentagon confirmed on Sunday it had removed its bombers – thought to be about a dozen B-1s – from the base back to their home stations in America.
Speaking to reporters as he departed for Nebraska on Monday, Trump said the US had known of a “threat”, which led them to move the bombers.
Earlier a UK government spokesperson insisted that RAF Fairford was safe and pointed to Trump’s comments last week, where he praised the UK’s “police, defence and security services” in relation to the base.
Trump’s comments appear to confirm reports by US media that a new threat led to the bombers being removed after a major incident on 27 September when police were alerted to three “suspicious vehicles” near the airbase. Six men have been arrested while a police investigation into a suspected terror plot continue. The UK government has suggested a link to Iran is likely.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump was asked if a “specific threat” had led the US to pull its bombers from the airbase and said: “Yeah I think we can say that. They didn’t fly out by accident…. There were some threats. And rather than tempting the enemy, we’ll capture the enemy and beat the enemy. But why should we leave them there? So we moved them around a little bit. Not very far.”
The exact nature of the threat that prompted the aircraft’s removal from RAF Fairfield remains unclear, but sources in suggested that there were fears of a drone strike or sabotage attempts in the event of resumed hostilities with Iran.
One source close to the White House pointed to Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb – a covert drone attack on five Russian bases in June last year – as an example of what a determined enemy force could do.
Clive Myrie presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Frank Gardner and Gary O’Donoghue.
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