US removes B-1 bombers from UK base amid security concerns

Redeployment follows arrests of 6 suspects in connection with foiled attack on RAF Fairford facility

The United States removed its B-1 bombers from a UK air base one ​week after several men were arrested there on ‌suspicion of preparing terrorist acts, a Pentagon official said on Sunday.

A dozen B-1 bombers were stationed at RAF Fairford air base, located ​northwest of London. The planes had been used ​for US strikes on Iran.

"While operational security precluded ⁠us from confirming the movement of our assets and ​forces in real-time, we can acknowledge now that all US ​bombers that were deployed to RAF Fairford have redeployed to their home stations in the United States," a Pentagon spokesman wrote in ​an email.

Read: Men arrested in major incident at UK air base used by US

Britain has "strong indications" that Iran was involved in a suspected ​plot targeting the base, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Wednesday. ‌Iran ⁠said accusations linking Tehran to the alleged plan were baseless and summoned the British ambassador in Tehran over the issue.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that the aircraft were ​removed from ​the base ⁠amid security concerns over suspected terror plots against the facility.

The British government had allowed the ​US to use bombers based at Fairford ​to ⁠strike Iranian missile sites that were attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

US President Donald Trump said those involved in the ⁠plot ​had planned "big damage", while US Secretary ​of State Marco Rubio also pointed to the "hands of a foreign actor."

British police were questioning five men last week on Monday on suspicion of explosives and terrorism offences after they were detained near an air base that has been used by the United States to strike Iran.

Officers detained the five men in the early hours of Sunday after they received a tip-off that three large white vans had been seen heading to the military airfield of RAF Fairford in the west of England.

US President Donald Trump said the suspects had been looking to do "big damage" and had been under investigation by British and US authorities. However, a local farmer said she had tipped off police after seeing a group of "hooded and masked men" running into the fields.