A new report has alleged RAF Menwith Hill on the outskirts of Harrogate has provided intelligence for American drone bombings campaigns in the Middle East, including the high-profile assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in 2020.
The report, called “Menwith Hill in 3D, Domes, Data and Drone Strikes” has been written by journalist Barnaby Pace on behalf of Yorkshire CND and Menwith Hill Accountability Campaign.
It says the aim of the report is to encourage “wider political and public understanding” of what goes on at the secretive surveillance base.
Built in the 1950s, giant radomes, or ‘golf balls’, are a distinctive feature of the site.
The Snowden leaks
Leaked documents from whistleblower Edward Snowden identify Menwith Hill as providing the intelligence for “a significant number” of operations to “eliminate” targets in the Middle East.
These include operations to target terrorists in Yemen through controversial drone bombing campaigns that have also killed civilians.
The United States has defended its use of drone strikes against terrorist targets as “necessary, legal and just”.
Harrogate Borough Council has approved several planning applications in recent years to expand Menwith Hill, which the report says reflects the “increasingly wide-ranging and technologically sophisticated surveillance apparatus” built up at the base.
Read more:
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Qasem Soleimani
Iranian General Qasem Soleimani was killed by an armed US drone in Baghdad in January 2020 and the report says it was “probable” that the facilities at Menwith Hill were used to target that drone strike.
President Trump, who authorised the strike, called Soleimani “a monster” and said his killing was “a good thing”. However, it ratcheted up tensions between the US and Iran.
The report says:
“The involvement of the UK and Menwith Hill in an assassination that threatened to spark a war should be of great concern.”
Alex Sobel, Labour MP for Leeds North-West, has asked the government whether Menwith Hill had a role in the killing of Soleimani.
A government minister said:
“In accordance with long-standing policy we do not comment on the details of the operations carried out at RAF Menwith Hill in providing intelligence support.”
An MOD Spokesperson told the Stray Ferret:
“RAF Menwith Hill is part of a worldwide US Defence communications network, with the base supporting a variety of communications activity. For operational security reasons and as a matter of policy, neither the MOD nor the DoD publicly discuss specifics concerning military operations or classified communications regardless of unit, platform or asset.
“US Forces maintain robust civilian and military cooperation with the United Kingdom and manage all base activities in accordance with the agreements made between the United States and Her Majesty’s Government.”
