By Sumayya
WASHINGTON: The United States has pulled out all B-1 bomber planes sent to Royal Air Force Fairford in Britain, the Pentagon verified Sunday, after a safety event close to the airbase caused the evacuation of 85 houses.
A Pentagon official stated all US bombers sent to Fairford had returned to their home bases in the United States.
“Mission safety stopped us from verifying the movement of our gear and forces in real-time,” the official stated.
Police were called to the airbase in southwest England last Sunday after a local farmer reported seeing multiple vans and a group of men mixed in what he described as suspicious activity.
The event led to the clearing out of 85 houses close to the base, which has been deployed by the United States to launch strikes on Iran.
Guessing over the goal of the activity held the prospect of a safety danger or fuel theft, amid record-high power values in Britain this week.
Investigators stated they found no bombs in the vans but recovered “a quantity of fuel”, according to Lawrence Taylor, head of Britain’s National Counter Terrorism Policing.
Five London-based British men, all in their mid-20s, were caught in connection with the event and later let go on bail money.
US President Donald Trump spoke against their release, telling reporters: “I would not have executed that.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated a “foreign power” stood mixed in the event, without openly identifying the power.
Iran’s embassy in London turned down hints that Tehran stood mixed, saying it “completely rejects and strongly speaks against” such guessing.
Safety at Fairford had reportedly been raised in fresh weeks.
Britain gave Washington consent in March to deploy the base for “specific defensive steps into Iran”, after which US bombers and alternate aircraft were observed taking off from and landing at the spot.
Fairford remains the single airbase on mainland Britain being deployed by the United States for this goal.
The event launched after a farmer living in Whelford, a village close to the airbase, called police when he saw three vans blocking a road and a group of hidden men running from the area.
Air videos of the vans displayed what appeared to be barrels inside them. At minimum single vehicle carried a fake sign and phone number meant to render it appear that it belonged to a real fuel delivery firm.
