Terrorism a possible cause of British serviceman's attempted kidnapping

NORFOLK, England, July 21 (UPI) -- A British air force serviceman was nearly the victim of a kidnapping after being threatened with a knife while he was jogging near RAF Marham base in England.

Two men approached the RAF serviceman, who was out of uniform at the time, with a knife and attempted to grab him, but he was able to fight off the men and was not harmed, police said.

The serviceman was "unable to discount terrorism" as a possible motive in the attempted kidnapping, Norfolk Police said, and the incident comes a few months after a man with links to the Islamic State was convicted of a "terrorist" plot against U.S. military personnel and three years after the beheading of British soldier Lee Rigby in London in 2013.

"The motivation of this incident remains unclear," said Assistant Chief Constable Nick Dean. "We are unable at this time to discount terrorism but I stress that other lines of inquiry are equally plausible," he said.

"The motivation of this incident remains unclear. We are unable at this time to discount terrorism but I stress that other lines of inquiry are equally plausible," Dean said.