The hero farmer who appears to have single-handedly foiled a major terror attack on an RAF base used by US bombers to strike Iran only has a ‘partial picture’ of the operation, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting claimed today.
Driving home from a party in the early hours of yesterday morning, the local woman was shocked to find three large white vans blocking a road yards from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.
She has said she is ‘absolutely staggered’ to have been the ‘plucky amateur’ who was forced to alert police, revealing that nobody answered a Ministry of Defence hotline when she called.
‘Thank God we spotted them,’ she said, as counter-terrorism police probe if Iran is behind the plot.
Worryingly, the farmer claimed she saw more ‘Middle Eastern-looking’ suspects fleeing the scene than the five men later arrested.
Mr Streeting today praised her quick thinking and public spirit, but insisted that she had only a ‘partial picture’ of events, declining to reveal further details.
He said: ‘She has done exactly what we would hope that someone in that extraordinary situation would do, and I’m really grateful to her.
‘I think she acted, by her own admission, quickly and thoughtfully, and she did the right thing. With respect, though, she does only have a partial picture, and that’s as far as I wish to go this morning.’
Donald Trump appeared to nod when asked by reporters last night whether the suspects were migrants. However, he did not answer directly, saying only: ‘We know all about them.’
The farmer’s arrival after a night out with friends reportedly sent the group of men in balaclavas scattering into nearby woodland and across fields surrounding the base, which was recently used by US aircraft involved in strikes on Iran.
Wes Streeting (pictured today) claimed the hero farmer who foiled an attack on RAF base used by US bombers ‘only has a partial picture’ of the security operation
Five men were pictured as police arrested them on terror charges near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. The hero farmer said she thought there were more at the scene
She said she was astonished to have been the person who raised the alarm, despite President Trump’s claim that the group were known to authorities and under surveillance.
The ‘masked’ men were later filmed shirtless amid reports they may have been on a suicide mission armed with explosive vests, allegedly targeting a fleet of US B-1 Lancer bombers based at Fairford.
The farmer, who has not been named, was forced to stop when she found three white vans blocking the road.
As the men fled in different directions, she called 999 before sending a message to the local WhatsApp group in the village of Whelford.
Within 25 minutes, the five suspects had been rounded up and arrested by armed counter-terrorism officers, who are now investigating whether the alleged plot was linked to Iran.
‘They probably thought we were the police and panicked,’ the farmer said last night.
‘A plucky amateur shouldn’t be spotting unusual activity at 1am when the air base is on high alert. I think it’s absolutely astonishing.
‘Thinking about it now, and what could have happened if they had tried to stop me from driving away, I am quite lucky.’
She added: ‘It is pretty incredible, realising you had a face-to-face brush with potential terrorists and may have foiled a terrorist plot. It was clear they had only just arrived. Thank God we spotted them.’
Last night as he landed back in Washington from Illinois, President Trump hailed US-UK co-operation to foil the attack – and insisted that the group were known to police and were ‘looking to do big damage’ to US forces.
When asked if the US knew about the attack, he said: ‘We know all about them. You’ll be hearing about it very soon. We caught them.’
Earlier in the day he said: ‘It was fantastic. Working with Britain, it was an amazing job. We had them under investigation. They were looking to do big damage to our fort, and working with the British worked out great.
‘It may have been Scotland Yard, I don’t know. We worked with a lot of them. We had them under view for a long time, and we got them. Thank you.’
The five arrested men are in custody and can be questioned for a fortnight under UK anti-terror laws.
They were heading towards nearby RAF Fairford – an airbase used by the United States Air Force for operations against Iran. The base, which is already on high alert and had ramped up security in recent weeks, is less than a mile from the centre of the village.
Donald Trump appeared to nod to reporters when asked if the men arrested were migrants to the UK last night – but did not answer the question
The group were shirtless and handcuffed, suggesting police suspected they may be wearing suicide vests
The farmer said she thought the vans were suspicious because a phone number and lettering on the back of the vehicles appeared to be fake
But it was a quick-thinking British farmer who appears to have saved the day.
She had sped away before calling police and messaging her local WhatsApp group, telling them to lock their doors.
Minutes later armed police descended on the quiet Cotswolds village of Whelford – home to just 100 – and arrested five men. Dramatic video and pictures from the scene show the young, shirtless men sitting on the ground – arms handcuffed behind them.
The woman, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals, said she believed her headlights had startled the men, prompting them to try to flee.
The hero farmer said she believed she had spotted more than five men – despite just five being arrested.
She told the Sun: ‘The worst thing is that we saw more than five people and they kept saying they arrested five. They had the helicopters searching.’
It comes as Temporary Chief Constable for Gloucestershire Police, Maggie Blyth, has indicated the force is not looking for anybody else in connection with the incident.
The farmer revealed she had been driving along a quiet lane through the village while her husband was sleeping beside her as she prepared to drop a friend home.
She said the vans struck her as being suspicious because a phone number and lettering on the back of the vehicles appeared to be fake.
She added: ‘I just thought what the hell are they doing… I saw a group of Middle Eastern–looking young guys running off through the trees. Some of them had masks or balaclavas on, and they all scattered ahead of us as we drove back past.
‘Some of them ran into the fields, and some of them turned to run towards the air base. We realised this was something pretty serious.
US Air Force bomberson the tarmac at RAF Fairford base in Fairford today
Three white vans have been probed by a wheeled robot attached to the bomb squad after five men were arrested following a ‘foiled terror plot’ on RAF Fairford (pictured)
‘We knew the air base had a credible threat of a terrorist attack before last night. So as soon as I saw them I was worried.
‘I mean, you don’t see masked men running around at half–one in the morning in the countryside near a secure air base and not have concerns.
‘It’s bloody preposterous that they weren’t on it and I had to phone up.
‘I’d like to think it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing.’
The woman said she hoped the police ‘sort themselves out and this doesn’t happen to us again’ – insisting there would be some ‘red faces in the highest levels of command at Fairford anyway’.
One of the white vans was labelled ‘FUEL 2YOU’ in red lettering, with a phone number that was one digit short.
A company with the same name said it had two vans and they were both in London yesterday. After the men were detained a 400m cordon was thrown up around the vehicles – which appeared to have been laden with barrels – while police went door to door, evacuating the 85 homes in the village.
Residents told how they were initially woken by a helicopter at 1am and then again by bangs on the door before being taken away in their pyjamas and dressing gowns to a leisure centre.
Jo, who did not want to give her surname, has lived in Whelford for 18 years. She said she was evacuated from her home at around 7am, adding: ‘We were asleep and they were just banging on our door. They said it was a critical incident and we’ve got to leave straight away, and they basically wouldn’t leave the doorstep until we left.
‘We just had to throw our clothes on and come. We didn’t know anything. (The police) literally waited (at the door). I didn’t even brush my teeth.’
Another Whelford resident said they were woken by a helicopter at 2am. They were then woken again at 6.30am by police officers banging on their bedroom window telling them they needed to evacuate. The local said: ‘We’d gone to bed as normal around 10pm and heard the helicopter above the house at 2ish.
Heavily-armed personnel are seen at the main entrance to RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire
‘You get used to aircraft living so close to the base, but not at that time in the early hours. So we knew something was happening.
‘We sleep downstairs and heard a banging on the window at 6.30am. We must have slept through the doorbell.
‘It was the police, they were armed and in masks. They very calmly said there was a ‘serious incident’ and that we needed to leave for our own safety.
‘We grabbed some things and headed to the leisure centre. We haven’t been told when we can go back. It’s been a very scary day.’
Those evacuated were taken to Cirencester Leisure Centre – ten miles away – where areas are also being set up for people’s cats and dogs.
Two uniformed officers had earlier gone to collect one worried resident’s dog. They dropped off the small black terrier to her in the foyer of the centre.
The local farmer was hailed a hero last night.
She had reportedly first tried to alert police at the base but no one answered the phone – prompting her to dial 999.
One resident said: ‘She is a hero.
‘She has almost certainly prevented a terror attack.’
Julian Tudsbery, who has lived in Whelford for 30 years, said: ‘Evidently, they phoned the airbase police, who didn’t answer the phone. It just rang out so she dialled 999.’
He said he was evacuated at 7am, adding: ‘[The police] were then banging on the door, so I went downstairs in my dressing gown.’
