Four people arrested after aircraft vandalised at RAF Brize Norton

Two men and a woman have been arrested on suspicion of a terror offence after two aircraft were damaged at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, police have said.

A second woman has also been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. Counter Terrorism Policing South East said in a statement: "A 29-year-old woman of no fixed abode, and two men; aged 36 and 24, both from London, were arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, contrary to Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

"A 41-year-old woman, of no fixed abode, was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender." Police said the arrests on Thursday in Newbury in Berkshire, and in London, "are in connection with an incident in the early hours of [last] Friday during which damage was caused to two aircraft at RAF Brize Norton". The four people are currently in custody while enquiries are ongoing, police added.

Palestine Action said the arrests "further demonstrate that proscription is not about enabling prosecutions under terrorism laws - it's about cracking down on non-violent protests which disrupt the flow of arms to Israel during its genocide in Palestine". The group posted a video online claiming it was behind the vandalism at the Oxfordshire airbase last Friday, saying activists had damaged two military planes at the base.

Palestine Action - which focuses its campaigns on multinational arms dealers and has previously targeted corporate banks - said two activists "broke into the largest air force base in Britain and used electric scooters to swiftly manoeuvre towards the planes". Repurposed fire extinguishers were used to spray red paint into the turbine engines of two Airbus Voyagers, while further damage was made using crowbars.

"Red paint, symbolising Palestinian bloodshed was also sprayed across the runway and a Palestine flag was left on the scene," a statement by the group said. Brize Norton is the largest RAF station, with approximately 5,800 service personnel, 300 civilian staff and 1,200 contractors.

A security review was launched across the "whole defence estate" following the breach, which was condemned as "absolutely staggering" by Ben Obese-Jecty, a Tory MP and former Army officer. Sir Keir Starmer condemned the "act of vandalism" as "disgraceful.