Counter-terror police search Peterborough addresses, probe motive
The British Ministry of Defence and U.S. European Command spokespeople issued general statements Friday about force protection at British bases, responding to the Thursday arrest of two Latvian nationals at RAF Molesworth. Both agencies had declined to speak directly about the incident.
A U.S. European Command spokesperson said the command would “continue to assess the threat environment surrounding our installations and take appropriate actions to protect our people, our platforms, and the bases where our forces operate from.” The spokesperson said the command could not comment on intelligence matters and would never divulge “specific force protection measures.”
A British Ministry of Defence spokesman said the agency remains “highly vigilant to potential threats against defense sites” and works with police and allies “to keep them secure.” The spokesman said force protection at British bases is kept “under constant review” and includes “physical barriers, patrols, surveillance, monitoring, and counter-drone capabilities.”
Counter-terrorism police arrested the two Latvian nationals — ages 36 and 32, both U.K. residents — in the early hours of Thursday inside RAF Molesworth, a British base about 70 miles north of London that hosts U.S. and NATO intelligence operations, the Metropolitan Police said.
The men were initially detained by military police on suspicion of trespass and criminal damage before being handed over to local police. They were later rearrested on suspicion of the national security offense of entering a restricted facility for a purpose “prejudicial to the United Kingdom.”
Police sealed off the area around the base. Roads in the vicinity were closed, and part of one of Britain’s main south-north highways was shut while bomb disposal teams attended to a vehicle found abandoned near the base.
Counter-terrorism officers were conducting searches at two addresses in the Peterborough area as part of the investigation, according to Helen Flanagan, the head of Counter Terrorism Policing.
“A big part of this is looking at any potential motivation as to why the men were present at the site, but I must stress we are keeping an open mind at this stage,” Flanagan said. “As ever, I would ask the public to remain vigilant and if you see anything of concern, then to contact police.”
The U.S. operation at Molesworth is the Joint Intelligence Operations Center, Europe, which provides intelligence to U.S. European Command. The base also houses NATO’s Intelligence Fusion Center, which provides military intelligence to NATO member countries.
The U.S. operation at Molesworth does not service U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), the command with responsibility for an area spanning northeast Africa, the Middle East — including Iran — and Central and South Asia.
Counter-terrorism police said they were not linking the Molesworth incident to a Sept. 27 counter-terrorism operation at RAF Fairford, a base in Gloucestershire about 80 miles away that the United States uses for missions amid its war with Iran.