Belgium

Brussels, 28 September 2026. The Belgian press first highlights the scope of the security measures deployed on Sunday, 27 September, around the RAF airbase in Fairford, Gloucestershire, after the arrest of five men suspected of preparing a "terrorist act". According to the Metropolitan Police of London, cited by La Libre and DH, the suspects were arrested for alleged offences under the explosives law, as part of a "major incident" handed over to the British counter-terrorism police.

The Belgian newspapers reconstruct the chronology transmitted by the Gloucestershire police. Around midnight, a resident reported three suspicious vehicles approaching the base, used by the American aviation. According to VRT NWS, a witness, returning from an evening out, told the Daily Telegraph that she saw several masked men fleeing into the bushes; twenty-five minutes later, the suspects were arrested in the nearby hamlet of Whelford and the vehicles were found. A robot from the authorities was then filmed examining the vans, before the intervention of a bomb disposal team.

A 400-metre security perimeter led to the evacuation of residents around the site. However, the Gloucestershire police indicated that the "major incident" had been "brought under control". Prime Minister Andy Burnham, informed by his services, praised a rapid intervention: "We are grateful to the emergency services, who acted quickly to arrest several suspects and put in place measures to ensure the safety of the population." Defence Minister Wes Streeting, for his part, thanked "the emergency and specialist teams" mobilised.

The Belgian press largely relies on police statements and British agencies - PA and BBC are cited as primary sources - without advancing, at this stage, any hypothesis about the suspects' motivations or a potential sponsor. None of the articles consulted explicitly links the episode to Fairford's role in the American campaign against Iranian missile sites targeting the Strait of Ormuz, or to the threats made in July by the Revolutionary Guards against the bases used by Washington. The angle retained in Brussels remains that of a security fact brought under control, borne by the rapid competence of the British law enforcement, rather than that of an episode inscribed in a broader regional escalation.