See inside Diego Garcia, a secretive US Navy base on British land at the center of a bitter tug-of-war in the Indian Ocean

Diego Garcia is now one a key US military bases in the region, and is used as a launchpad for Air Force missions in the Middle East.
Around 5,000 service personnel and contractors are based on Diego Garcia, which has a bowling alley, burger bar and stores.
The British government evicted thousands of islanders from their homes on Diego Garcia and the surrounding area to make way for the base.
The UN's top court recently ruled that the British illegally gained possession of the islands in 1965, placing the future status of the base in doubt.

On the remote tropical island of Diego Garcia, in the middle of the Indian Ocean, lies a secretive, strategically vital US military base

The base has served as a launchpad for US military operations in the Middle East, as a refuelling point for Air Force patrols headed to the South China Sea, and was even designated an emergency landing spot for space missions by NASA.

But this distant outpost of American power isn't located on US territory. Instead it occupies what was formerly a part of the British Empire and its former owners after throwing off their imperial rulers want it back.

But a recent ruling from the UN's highest said that Diego Garcia and the islands around it were illegally taken by Britain, and should be returned. Although the ruling is not binding, it has put the future of the base in doubt.

Scroll down to see what the remote installation is like.

Diego Garcia is located in the Indian Ocean's Chagos archipelago, more than 1,000 miles from the nearest continent.

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Its position is strategically vital for the US, allowing it project its military strength northwest into the Middle East and South Asia, east into Asia, or west into Africa.

It's the most important US base in the Indian Ocean region.

It's is a horseshoe-shaped atoll of about 17 square miles,

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Diego Garcia is surrounded by about 60 other atolls.

Its coast forms a deep natural harbor, making it the perfect site for a naval base.

Diego Garcia is a tropical island, with white sands and coconut forests, surrounded by azure seas.

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It is home to turtles, giant migrating birds and the coconut crab the largest land-based animal on the island.

An estimated 3,000 to 5,0000 service personnel from are stationed at the base, mostly US with a few from the UK.

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There are also civilian contractors, mostly from nearby Mauritius, who cook and clean for the soldiers and sailors.

The "downtown" area of Diego Garcia is like a small American town.

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MWR US Navy

In their downtime, US military service personnel can spend their time bowling, cycling, or shopping.

Diego Garcia has been the site of important military action by the US.

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From Diego Garcia, US bombers launched attacks in Afghanistan in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, and on Iraq during the 2003 invasion of the country by the US and its allies.

Prior to that, the site had proved its strategic importance for US military operations in the Middle East as a base for Air Force attacks during the first Gulf War in 1991.

Diego Garcia has a two mile-long runway capable of hosting B-1, B-2, and B52 bombers.

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From the base, long-range B52 bombers embarked on missions to Afghanistan in 2001, targetting Taliban and al-Qaeda positions in the country's mountains.

The base is also vital as a refuelling point for the US Navy and Air Force.

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Its deep port is able to accommodate aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines, and other ships.

"There are also massive pre-positioned ships in the lagoon, each about the size of the Empire State Building, filled with enough weapons and supplies for material tanks, helicopters for an entire brigade of Marines," David Vine, who has written a book on the Chagos islands, told CNN .

With Diego Garcia only accessible to restricted US military personnel, its secrecy has attracted speculation.

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Photo credit should read PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images

Unlike the US military base in Guam, the spouses of personnel are not allowed on Diego Garcia. No journalist has visited.

Lawrence Wilkerson, a former official in the Bush administration, told Vice News in 2015 that CIA contacts had informed him it served as one of the network of prisons where people were detained, interrogated and in some cases tortured as part of the War on Terror after 9/11.

The claims have been awkward for the British. Officials in the UK government have long denied UK complicity or involvement in the so-called "extraordinary rendition" program.

Between 1967 and 1973, the British evicted the entire population of the Chagos islands known as the Ilois to make way for the US airbase.

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The ancestors of the Ilois had been transported to the islands as slaves to work coconut plantations in the 18th century.

But after being forcefully uprooted in the 1960s and 1970s, most of the Chagossians were moved to nearby Mauritius or the Seychelles, where they faced poverty and discrimination.

Some moved then to Britain, where they have continued to experience hardship.

The Ilois have fought for the right to return to their homeland, with the British High Court in 2006 ruling that their expulsion was illegal.

The British government has continued to deny that it broke laws in expelling the Ilois, and has blocked their right to return.

British rule is illegal says UN

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In May 2019, the UN's highest court ruled that the 60 or so Chagos Islands which include Diego Garcia had been transferred to British authority illegally in 1965.

The islands were previously part of Mauritius, but Mauritius handed control of them to Britain for a cash fee two years before gaining independence.

The UN court ruled that it was illegal for the British to demand possession of the islands as a condition of independence.

Shortly afterwards, the British leased Diego Garcia to the US.

The UN has now served an eviction notice to the British. Although the ruling is not enforceable, it exerts moral pressure, and has placed the future of the base in doubt.

See inside Diego Garcia, a secretive US Navy base on British land at the center of a bitter tug-of-war in the Indian Ocean

Diego Garcia is located in the Indian Ocean's Chagos archipelago, more than 1,000 miles from the nearest continent.

It's is a horseshoe-shaped atoll of about 17 square miles,

Diego Garcia is a tropical island, with white sands and coconut forests, surrounded by azure seas.

An estimated 3,000 to 5,0000 service personnel from are stationed at the base, mostly US with a few from the UK.

The "downtown" area of Diego Garcia is like a small American town.

Diego Garcia has been the site of important military action by the US.

Diego Garcia has a two mile-long runway capable of hosting B-1, B-2, and B52 bombers.

The base is also vital as a refuelling point for the US Navy and Air Force.

With Diego Garcia only accessible to restricted US military personnel, its secrecy has attracted speculation.

Between 1967 and 1973, the British evicted the entire population of the Chagos islands known as the Ilois to make way for the US airbase.

British rule is illegal says UN

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