LONDON -- U.K. counterterrorism police are questioning two Latvian men after they broke into a British military base that is used as an intelligence hub by the U.S. military and NATO forces.
The arrests mark the second incident involving a U.K. base in weeks, following the recent arrest of five men outside RAF Fairford on suspicion of plotting a terrorist attack.
Police said that they arrested the men after a security patrol at RAF Molesworth in Cambridgeshire discovered an abandoned vehicle in the early hours of Wednesday morning and subsequently arrested two Latvian men, age 36 and 32, inside the base. Counterterrorism police said they were investigating the incident and questioning the men.
Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said that the police were still trying to determine why the men broke into the military site and that there was "nothing to suggest" their actions were tied to a recent foiled plot at RAF Fairford. Police conducted checks on the abandoned car and no explosives were found.
RAF Molesworth is an intelligence hub for the U.S. European Command, U.S. Africa Command, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Intelligence Fusion Center, which helps coordinate the alliance's military operations. No aircraft are launched or stored at the base.
The arrests are the second time in a matter of weeks that men have been apprehended wandering near or in a U.K. military base in the middle of the night.
Last month, five men were detained in the woods near RAF Fairford, after driving up from London in vans that contained barrels of fuel. The men were released on bail but Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Iran was likely linked to the plot.
U.S. officials believe that Iran was planning a major assault on RAF Fairford, including firing drones at B-1 bombers located there. Amid ongoing U.S. concerns about security, all the bombers were abruptly flown out of the base last weekend.
Iran has denied involvement.
In total, seven men, all in their 20s have now been arrested as part of the Fairford investigation. None have been charged with a crime and all have been released on bail.
At RAF Molesworth, police said the men entered after cutting a hole in the perimeter fence, another example of how difficult it is to protect military bases.