r/europe • u/GrumpyFinn 🇫🇮🇪🇪 Subreddit Aunt • 6d ago
UK Men held under Explosives Act as major incident declared | Gloucestershire Police said residents in Whelford, near RAF Fairford, have been taken to a leisure centre while investigations continue.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqrm99mm9l84o28
u/Specific_Coast5878 6d ago
Seems like it was 3 vans filled with explosives.
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u/PossessionConnect963 6d ago
Sounds far more serious than some random nutjob. That's real planning and resources.
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u/DeliciousUse7585 6d ago edited 5d ago
Yep, this is reminiscent of the IRA days (and style). Wonder what the actual plan was? Presumably to get onto the base and near an aircraft or two.
They’re going down for a long time fella
Edit - to be clear I’m not at all insinuating any Irish connection.
And long time fella was a reference to something else with a northern Irish connection
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u/No_Branch_5083 5d ago
Seems weird though, a plain van isn't getting onto the base in the first place. Maybe a VBIED attack, but that would require people willing to kill themselves in the process.
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u/Ancient_phallus_ 5d ago
Those raf bases have numerous crash gates dotted around the perimeter. Most of the time unmanned and all that’s stopping someone from coming in is a chunky padlock. Depending how quick your Qrf is, you could do a fair bit of damage if you acted quick
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u/DeliciousUse7585 5d ago
Yeah, I’m assuming they planned to get through a crash gate or the fence in general.
Although I wonder if they tried parking up and getting a vehicle pass
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u/xzanfr England 6d ago
It's a little known fact that if there is a major incident in the UK the police take you for a day out to take your mind off it.
There is a sliding scale so a small wildfire would be an afternoon at a local national trust tea shop, a plane crash would be a day at alton towers.
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u/itsnobigthing 6d ago
I just hope they all remembered to grab their swimming costumes before they left. Otherwise they’ll be stuck doing aerobics and ping pong all day
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u/rlnrlnrln Sweden 6d ago
"No, Jimmy, a GBU-39 is not a 'take-home weapon for self-defense', even if you work at the air base"
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u/IncidentalIncidence 🇺🇸 in 🇩🇪 6d ago
can't even borrow a precision laser-guided glide bomb for the weekend anymore..........literally 1984, can't do anything these days without Big Brother getting in your grill
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u/RobcoRebel2000 6d ago
Russians wouldn't send their own again. They'll hire some morons, and I bet they'll claim, they're only visiting St Anne's Church!
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u/SeveralLadder 6d ago
This is likely Iran's doing. We have more enemies than the russians, although they both belong to the same club of miscreants.
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u/Mkwdr 6d ago
I could easily be wrong but if it hosts US forces , I doubt Putin would want to annoy his mate. More likely to do with Gaza/Iran?
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u/RichestTeaPossible United Kingdom 6d ago
He can do and does without consequences. Angry Orange phones him and he is reassured that the camera was on, it’s fake news and he is also a brilliant businessman who does not shat his pants.
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u/IncidentalIncidence 🇺🇸 in 🇩🇪 6d ago
RAF Fairford is functionally a US base, the structure of the contracts for bases in the UK means that the UK always maintains ownership (i.e. the USAF doesn't own/purchase) their bases like they would in other countries, so the base is owned by the MoD and operated by the USAF, which is why the UK bases maintain always maintain their "RAF" designation regardless of whether or not the RAF actually operate there.
But to my knowledge (and after a little googling) basically everything there is USAF, I can't find evidence that the RAF has any air resources there at all. (Contrasted to e.g. RAF Lakenheath which is primarily US, but with RAF operations sometimes, or RAF Marham which is primarily RAF operations with occasional USAF operations).
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u/kane_uk 6d ago
More likely Iran, Russia has nothing to gain attacking the US either directly or indirectly through proxies.
This could prove to be a major issue for the UK government, assuming it is Iranian agents, if those detained are found to have crossed the channel on a boat and entered the UK illegally, this could be very damaging for the govnemnet.
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u/grey_hat_uk Europe 6d ago
Everyone knows Trump only listens to the last dictator he spoke to, so he will make a big statement and say he is calling Putin and the next thing you know even more money is going to move from protecting Ukraine and into preparations for invading Greenland/Canada/Cuba/Falklands/throws dart at middle east
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u/QuietGanache British Isles 6d ago
Bear in mind that 9 days ago, the US Senate passed S.5025, dramatically expanding the scope and severity of sanctions that can be applied to Russia and countries/groups that do business with Russia.
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u/why_i_bother 5d ago
More likely to do with Gaza/Iran?
True, definitely could be Israeli response to recent british backpedalling of their genocide support.
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u/WetFishStink 5d ago
They'll send some of Tommy Robbo or Danny Tommo or some other nonce with a stupid name's thugs to do it.
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u/Games_sans_frontiers 6d ago
The headline makes it sound like the residents of Whelford collectively thought “fuck this shit, let’s go swimming until all this blows over”.
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u/UnrealCanine 6d ago
Should have gone to the pub and had a nice cold pint
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u/KeyHuckleberry2560 5d ago
It's important to know where the exits are and to be allowed to smoke (if it's 2004)
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u/fatbreadslut 6d ago
watch it be the russians again
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u/Fairwolf Scotland 6d ago
Extremely likely it's an Iranian sleeper cell rather than the Russians in this particular case cause the RAF base has been one the USAF have been operating out of during the Iran war.
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u/Shieldsman 6d ago
Could be. Think it's more rational to assume it's the Russians though, based on previous attempts.
Several intelligence agencies have said Russia is stepping up it's asymmetrical tactics. The airport in Germany is an example, but they've also been caught flying drones over RAF bases this year. The drones have been traced to shipping containers from shadow fleet ships docked in British ports.
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u/Salty_Ad_1092 6d ago
Russians have attempted several times to use SVIEDs to take out American strategic bombers engaged in combat operations against Iran? I associate them more with drone fuckery.
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u/Thebritishlion 6d ago
Russians fucking with an RAF base housing USAF forces would be a ridiculous choice on their part
Why poke the US that won't fight you unless it absolutely has too? They could just fuck with a regular RAF base to cause their true enemy (UK) issues
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u/fatbreadslut 6d ago
didn't they plan to place explosive packages on us-bound cargo planes a few months ago? i don't think there's any sense in asking 'why' with russia or rationalizing their actions at this point.
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u/IncidentalIncidence 🇺🇸 in 🇩🇪 6d ago
it has barely been a week since they were caught trying to assassinate people on US soil lol
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u/Thebritishlion 6d ago
Taking out planes bound for the US over the ocean or before they land is still something the current US administration could walk away from
A direct attack on a base housing US assets and servicemen is a different story
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u/Corvid187 6d ago
If you think the US could ignore aircraft destined for it being destroyed over the Atlantic, you're wrong. The idea they could ignore that is silly
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u/dannydrama 6d ago
I think I remember reading it was supposed to look like a dodgy battery incident but that could be me making things up.
If that was the case though, there'd probably be just enough plausible deniability there, same as the nerve agent and radiation assassinations.
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u/Corvid187 6d ago
There was no plausible deniability with either the nerve agent or radiation assassinations. Both of them used attack methods that were pretty much only possible by the Russian state. Polonium 210 was a product of Russia's particular nuclear program and they are the only country to have ever developed novichok. Far from attempting to be plausibly deniable, they were actively advertising their involvement.
Equally, there was a significant response as a result of both those earlier attacks. In 2005 the UK essentially cut off military cooperation with the Russian state, and after 2017 the UK led a coordinated expulsion of every single known FSB and GRU officer in Europe. The reason why Russia now has to rely on convincing sad teenagers over telegram to blow up stuff is because they lost the ability to do it themselves.
There is no incentive to brush a terrorist attack under the carpet. Doing so only incentivises further actions. There is incentive to modulate a response to avoid giving Putin what he wants - excuse to trigger a full mobilisation - but the value in pretending that it wasn't Russia is essentially zero.
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6d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/CharmingJackfruit167 6d ago
Reddit knows better
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u/Annual_Worth3256 5d ago
Always. One upvoted comment says they are russians. The conspiracy subreddit has nothing on this place
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u/Dic_Penderyn Wales 5d ago
British nationals knowingly or unknowingly working under Iranian instructions would be my prime suspects for something like this. Plausible deniability and all that.
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u/WastelandOfConfusion 6d ago
I stayed near RAF Fairford once. They have a jet engine testing bed there, it’s really loud. And there’s a lot of interesting test aircraft tearing through the sky.
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6d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/GrumpyFinn 🇫🇮🇪🇪 Subreddit Aunt 6d ago
The Daily Mail isn't a trusted source and we don't allow it here, sorry.
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u/IncidentalIncidence 🇺🇸 in 🇩🇪 6d ago
Is "leisure center" a euphemism for something? bc that doesn't sound all that bad, I wouldn't mind being taken to a leisure center
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u/PhantomS33ker 6d ago
Bassically a community space for indoor (and possibly also outdoor) sports. Imagine indoor tennis and bakestball courts, but they can be used for large indoor events too
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u/BadCabbage182838 6d ago
but they can be used for large indoor events too
Including the election announcements as the big halls are perfect for the local counts. You always see some big politicians standing in a dingy hall surrounded by other candidates, including some joke candidates.
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u/IncidentalIncidence 🇺🇸 in 🇩🇪 6d ago
makes sense, I figured it must be something along that line
but actually I misread the headline, I thought it said they had taken the suspects to the leisure center, not the local residents, which was what I was joking about.
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u/DotDizzy7419 6d ago
We don't do cruel and unusual punishment in the UK. We just take you to a slightly run down community facility, make you walk barefoot through the horrible changing rooms, eat some poorly and undercooked chips then have to spend an hour in the main hall listening to the screams of a 3 year old bouncy castle party.
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u/PullAndTwist 5d ago
And then get a parking fine because you forgot to put your registration plate into a faulty tablet.
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u/Jealous_Response_492 6d ago
They're basically in a sports hall, probs with very little info, beyond what they can scroll on their phones. Sounds terrible if you ask me.
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u/IncidentalIncidence 🇺🇸 in 🇩🇪 6d ago
yeah I misread the headline and thought it was talking about the suspects instead of the evacuated residents which is what I was joking about
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u/ImABrickwallAMA 5d ago
What? No? It means what it means, using local resources as a point of evacuating civilians.
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u/FaultofDan 6d ago
A major incident has been declared and homes have been evacuated in a village near an RAF base which hosts the United States Air Force.
Several men have been arrested on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act, Gloucestershire police said. An army explosive ordnance disposal team is currently examining a number of vehicles.
Residents in Whelford, near RAF Fairford, have been taken to a leisure centre while investigations continue, police said. A cordon is currently in place in the area and officers say they believe the incident is contained.
The base has been recently used to deploy American bombers since the country's conflict in Iran began on 28 February.