No explosive devices were found in three vans searched near RAF Fairford as part of a terrorism investigation but a quantity of petrol was recovered, police have said.
asserted
police → find → petrol
Five British nationals were arrested in the early hours of Sunday morning after a resident living near the Gloucestershire airbase reported suspicious activity involving three vans.
asserted
resident → arrest → vans
Defending the decision to bail the men, Laurence Taylor, the head of UK Counter Terrorism Policing, said: “Yesterday we released the five men on police bail.
asserted
we → defend → bail
They remain under investigation and must adhere to strict conditions while we continue our work.
asserted
we → remain → work
“I understand why this development will have come as a surprise to many, but I’d like to reiterate that it was an investigative decision, and one which is grounded in experience and careful consideration of policing powers.”
asserted
which → understand → powers
Taylor said of the van: “Those vehicles have been subject to extensive examination, with the support of military assets and forensic experts, and we can confirm that no improvised explosive devices were found.
asserted
devices → say → assets
However, a quantity of petrol was recovered.”
asserted
quantity → recover → petrol
The vans were marked by the logo of a legitimate fuel transit company that later denied ownership of the vehicles, which prompted speculation online and in the local community that the men could have been fuel thieves.
uncertain
men → mark → community
Residents were returning home on Tuesday after spending days evacuated from their village.
asserted
Residents → return → village
Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, claimed the events were the work of a “foreign actor” but did not provide further details.
asserted
events → claim → details
He said “a lot of people are disturbed” after the release of the suspects from custody.
asserted
lot → say → custody
Donald Trump had earlier said he was “surprised” the group had been freed.
asserted
group → say → ?
Speculation has been growing about a connection between the weekend’s incident and Iran.
asserted
Speculation → grow → incident
The potential link was a key reason behind Andy Burnham’s decision to call a meeting of Cobra, the government’s crisis committee, on Monday, attended by senior police and security officials among others.
asserted
link → call → others
The same day Taylor said he knew there was “significant interest in whether the current geopolitical context has a bearing on this incident”.
asserted
context → say → incident
He added: “But be assured, we are considering this from every possible angle, including that this may be actively committed by proxies or individuals either knowingly or unknowingly working on behalf of a foreign state.”
uncertain
this → add → state
In March the British government gave the US permission to use the base for “specific defensive operations into Iran”.
asserted
government → give → Iran
The country’s London embassy has said it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations” of Iranian involvement.
asserted
it → say → involvement
Eighty-five households were forced to decamp to a leisure centre on Sunday as the bomb squad and counter-terror police descended on the village of Whelford, where five British nationals were arrested for terror and explosives-related offences.
asserted
nationals → force → offences
Mark Richings, a butcher in Fairford, told the Press Association: “There’s no change in here and we just got on with it as normal.
asserted
we → tell → it
We are a bit quieter today, but everybody seems to be OK, and we are having a bit of a chat about it.
asserted
we → seem → it
“We just carried on as normal.
asserted
We → carry → ?
We have enough to do to occupy our minds.
asserted
We → have → minds
If anything did happen, there isn’t a lot we could have done about it.”
uncertain
we → happen → it
Some of the evacuated residents were able to stay with families, about 60 people received support from a Cotswold district council rest centre in Cirencester and 28 people were accommodated overnight in hotels.
asserted
people → evacuate → hotels
Father Michael Robertson, the priest at the nearby St Thomas Catholic church, told PA: “A lot of parishioners didn’t think they could get to church.
uncertain
they → tell → church
Those that came were worried but perfectly happy with the situation.
asserted
that → come → situation
“In fact, quite a lot of Americans who have deployed here actually come to mass and some of the permanently deployed Americans are full members of the parish.
asserted
some → deploy → parish
We’re quite contented with the situation generally.
asserted
We → ’re → situation
Obviously, the disruption upsets people.”
asserted
disruption → upset → people
The Aporia
