According to a Reuters report on October 4th, an official from the US Department of Defense stated that all B-1 bombers deployed at the Royal Air Force Fairford base in the UK have been withdrawn back to the United States.
A spokesperson from the Pentagon wrote in an email, “For reasons of operational safety, we are unable to confirm in real time the movements of our equipment and troops. However, it is now confirmed that all American bombers deployed at Fairford Royal Air Force Base have been relocated back to their U.S. bases.”
Fairford Base is a command post for the U.S. Air Force operations in Europe, and it also serves as a forward combat base for the U.S. military.
In recent months, after the UK agreed to allow the US to use this base for defensive strikes against Iran, American bomber aircraft have taken off from this base to carry out missions in the Middle East. The US B-1 and B-52 bombers have also been launched from this base to carry out combat missions against Iran.
According to reports, the US decision was made due to concerns about possible terrorist plots targeting the base. Last month, Gloucestershire police arrested five men on charges of explosives offenses and suspected planning of ‘terrorist attacks’.
Five male suspects were taken into custody and then their pictures began circulating. BBC
