UK: Counter-terrorist police arrest four people for damaging aircraft at RAF base

London, June 27 (IANS) British counter-terrorism police have arrested four individuals in connection with an investigation into an incident involving damage to two aircraft at a Royal Air Force (RAF) base in Oxfordshire, Counterterrorism Policing South East announced on Friday.

Two men and a woman were arrested on suspicion of a terror offence, with a second woman also being arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.

The pro-Palestine group, identified as Palestine Action, said on its website on June 20 that members had damaged two military aircraft at RAF Brize Norton, Xinhua news agency reported. The base operates daily flights to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, a key hub for British military operations in the Middle East.

According to the group, two activists entered Britain's largest air force base by electric scooters on June 20 to "swiftly manoeuvre towards the planes." They used repurposed fire extinguishers to spray red paint into the turbine engines of two Airbus Voyager aircraft and caused damage with crowbars.

Britain's Ministry of Defence (MoD) had condemned the act as "vandalism."

The group also claimed that both activists had "successfully evaded security and avoided arrest."

In response, the British MoD said: "We strongly condemn this vandalism of Royal Air Force assets. We are working closely with the police, who are investigating."

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."

British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said on Monday that Palestine Action would be proscribed as a terrorist organisation following the breach at RAF Brize Norton.

--IANS

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