ISIS kidnap pair SPOTTED outside RAF base where they tried to snatch airman during morning jog
Huge search operation underway as specialist terror cops join local forces to weed out 'Lee Rigby-style' attackers
TWO terror suspects who tried to kidnap an RAF airman have been spotted and are feared to be hiding out near his base.
A drag net of 70 cops has begun sweeping land around RAF Marham in the hunt for the suspected jihadis.
Among their ranks is a team of 20 Met anti-terror officers sent from London to Norfolk.
The suspects are said to be in hiding as they plot a Lee Rigby-style attack.
The level of anxiety is high enough that the officers leading the chase are understood to have access to “as many men as is needed”.
Chiefs at the top of the UK’s anti-terror command were understood to be receiving regular updates from the situation on the ground.
It follows several sightings of two men of Middle Eastern appearance near the RAF base since the botched kidnap on July 20.
The victim, still said to be shaken by the attack, was grabbed by the stockier, bearded suspect while out running.
The RAF man punched and headbutted the attacker to the ground before the pair fled in the only direction not covered by cameras.
A source said: “Police are taking any possibility this was a terror attack very seriously indeed.
“They have to.
“There are up to 70 officers working on the case and there’s more available.
“There have been some doubts because the attack seemed so amateurish in some ways.
“They were beaten away so easily.
“But this fits the profile of modern terrorists — home-grown plotters, copycat attackers, who see what’s happened elsewhere and decide to act alone.
“The fact they were ineffectual doesn’t stop them being terrorists.
“It certainly doesn’t make them any less dangerous.
Officers have trawled CCTV and dashcams but have not been able to pick up their getaway vehicle so far, raising the spectre the men are hiding in the immediate area.
Traffic monitoring cameras would have been expected to pick up the black people carrier the attackers drove, although cops insist material is still being reviewed.
Police are working on a theory the men are lone wolf home-grown terrorists inspired by IS.
Tensions threatened to boil over last night as panic spread online over a sighting of the men at Colchester Garrison in Essex.
But that was being treated as a false alarm.
Government anxieties were also underlined by Armed Forces Minister Mike Penning’s visit to Marham on Thursday, where he stressed military security was of the “utmost importance”.
In the wake of terror attacks in Nice, Munich and Rouen, several families living at RAF Marham said it was only a matter of time before Britain is targeted by terrorists.
Some of them told of their fears the attackers could attempt another terror-motivated hit like the murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby in May 2013.
One RAF wife said: “People are just being a bit more wary and keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.
“Nobody is keeping their kids in the house under lock and key, but they are making sure where they are when they go out to play.”
A local mechanic who works predominantly on base families’ cars, said: “You have got to be a bit more vigilant now.
“There are too many nutters into killing people.”
Referring to last week’s attempted kidnapping, a mum said: “It makes my blood run cold to think what those two guys wanted to do to the poor bloke.
“You have to assume that lightning does not strike in the same place, although you can’t be certain they won’t come back here to try again.”
Chaudhray Ali, 32, who owns takeaway Chilli Bite on the base, added: “Since this happened, there have been no people out running.”
Colonel Richard Kemp, 57, ex-commander of UK forces in Afghanistan and ex-member of the Cobra crisis committee, also told of his belief the attack was terror-related.
He said: “The description of the individuals is of either Middle Eastern or Asian origin which would certainly suggest the profile that’s most common to Islamic terrorists operating here in the United Kingdom.
“So, I think it’s highly likely that with somebody in the vicinity of a base — obviously a military person out running — attempted abduction is almost certainly going to be terrorism.”
RAF Marham is home to Tornado jet squadrons, which have led coalition attacks against IS strongholds in northern Iraq and Syria.
Officers say the quiet country lanes around Marham where servicemen jog lend themselves to what locals describe as “ideal targets”.
Police stressed while terrorism was one line of enquiry they remained open-minded to other motives.
Det Supt Paul Durham told The Sun: “This is a rural area where the number of witnesses will be lower and piecing everything together takes longer.
“Investigations of this kind are always complex and can be time consuming.
“It is important we keep an open mind in regards to the motivation for this attack.
“That said, ten days still isn’t a long time for an investigation of this kind.
“I am confident that we will find these men, within the context we are looking.
“It may be we have the breakthrough already, it is just finding it in the sweep of material we have.
“What we need from the public is information on who these men are.
“Where do they come from?
“What do they do?
“The more we can find out about them, the quicker we can find them.
"And — as it stands — I believe we will find them.”
Do you know these men?
HAVE you seen the two men? Do you know who they are?
One suspect is described as aged between 20 and 30, 6ft and with a well-groomed beard.
The other is slightly younger, slimmer, 5ft 10in and clean shaven with short, dark hair.
If you spot them in person do not approach but dial 999 immediately.