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Driving home from a party in the early hours of yesterday, a local farmer was shocked to see three large white vans blocking a road in her quiet village.
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vans → see → village
Suspicious that a mobile number on one of the vans was a digit short, she turned her car around, only to see men in balaclavas fleeing into the trees and across the fields.
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men → turn → fields
Five men were later arrested but the woman claimed she had seen more suspects – as police carried out a helicopter 'search' operation overhead.
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police → arrest → operation
The men were heading towards nearby RAF Fairford – an airbase used by the United States Air Force for operations against Iran.
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men → head → 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.
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which → ramp → village
The quick-thinking farmer had sped away before calling police and messaging her local WhatsApp group, telling them to lock their doors.
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farmer → think → doors
Minutes later armed police descended on the quiet Cotswolds village of Whelford – home to just 100 – and arrested five men.
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police → descend → men
Dramatic video and pictures from the scene show the young, shirtless men sitting on the ground – arms handcuffed behind them.
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arms → show → 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.
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headlights → want → them
Five men were pictured as police arrested them on terror charges near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire
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
'
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number → picture → vehicles
They probably thought we were the police [and] panicked,' she said.
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she → think → ?
'A plucky amateur shouldn't be spotting an unusual bit of activity at 1am when the air base is on high alert.
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base → spot → alert
I think it's absolutely astonishing.
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it → think → ?
'Thinking about it now, and what could have happened if they had tried to stop me from driving away, I am quite lucky.
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I → think → me
She added: 'It is pretty incredible, realising you had a brush with potential terrorists face to face and may have foiled a terrorist plot.
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you → add → plot
It was clear they had just got there.
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they → get → ?
Thank God we spotted them.'
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we → thank → them
The woman said she believed she had spotted more than five men - despite just five being arrested.
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five → say → men
She told the Sun: 'The worst thing is that we saw more than five people and they kept saying they arrested five.
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they → tell → five
They had the helicopters searching.
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helicopters → have → ?
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.
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force → come → 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.
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she → reveal → friend
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.
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number → say → vehicles
She added: 'I just thought what the hell are they doing…
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they → add → hell
I saw a group of Middle Eastern–looking young guys running off through the trees.
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group → see → trees
Some of them had masks or balaclavas on, and they all scattered ahead of us as we drove back past.
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we → have → us
Some of them ran into the fields, and some of them turned to run towards the air base.
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some → run → base
We realised this was something pretty serious.
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this → realise → ?
A US Air Force B-1 Lancer bomber is pictured on the tarmac at RAF Fairford base in Fairford, south-west England on September 27
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)
A map shows where the three vans were searched by a bomb disposal robot after five men were arrested
'
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men → picture → robot
We knew the air base had a credible threat of a terrorist attack before last night.
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base → know → night
So as soon as I saw them I was worried.
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I → see → them
'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.'
'
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men → mean → concerns
It's bloody preposterous that they weren't on it and I had to phone up.
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I → have → it
'I'd like to think it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing.'
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it → like → lifetime
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'.
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this → say → Fairford
One of the white vans was labelled 'FUEL 2YOU' in red lettering, with a phone number that was one digit short.
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that → label → number
A company with the same name said it had two vans and they were both in London yesterday.
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they → say → London
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.
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police → detain → 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.
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they → tell → centre
Jo, who did not want to give her surname, has lived in Whelford for 18 years.
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who → want → years
…and 27 more, not listed.
The Aporia
