US European-African intelligence hub in UK breached; two Latvian nationals arrested inside base

According to Al Jazeera, British counter-terrorism police announced Thursday that two Latvian nationals were arrested inside RAF Molesworth — a base managed by the US Air Force that serves as both the operations center for US intelligence agencies targeting Europe and Africa and as a NATO intelligence hub.

Police said the two suspects, aged 36 and 32, were intercepted inside the base in the early hours of Thursday and remain in custody at Cambridgeshire Police Station, facing charges of trespass and entering a prohibited place "with the purpose of prejudicing the interests of the United Kingdom." A security patrol discovered an abandoned vehicle on the base's outer perimeter late on Wednesday night, and subsequently found a "small gap" in the perimeter fence, arresting the two men within hours.

Helen Flanagan, commander of the London branch of the UK's Counter-Terrorism Policing, said in a statement: "We are fully aware of the heightened attention and concern surrounding military bases recently. But at this stage, there is no indication that this incident is linked to the incident at Fairford base last month." She added that the investigation into the Molesworth incident is still in its early stages and will focus on "the potential motives behind the two individuals' presence at the location."

RAF Molesworth, located near Huntingdon in southeast England, was originally a World War II flying base and is now a non-flying facility. In addition to housing the US operations center for Europe and Africa, according to the CIA's website, the base also serves as NATO's intelligence hub.

This arrest comes more than a month after another major incident. On September 27, RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire declared a major incident after three suspicious vehicles were discovered, and seven men in their twenties were subsequently detained, one of whom held dual British-Iranian nationality. These suspects have since been granted bail.

Notably, Fairford base previously hosted US military aircraft and was used for US military strikes against Iran. This Sunday, following the suspicious vehicles incident, US military aircraft were urgently transferred out of the base. From Fairford to Molesworth, two base security incidents have occurred in less than a month; the investigation into the Molesworth incident is being led by British counter-terrorism authorities, but no formal determination has yet been made by any party regarding a connection between the two cases or the involvement of foreign powers.