ISIS Laptop Bombs News 2017: Terror Group May Have Gained Access to Airport Security Screening Equipment to Test Bombs
On March 21, the Department of Homeland Security and Transportation Security Agency tightened restrictions on airplanes flying directly to the United States from airports in eight countries by prohibiting electronic devices in carry-on bags. Passengers must place electronic items in their checked luggage.
The ban was prompted after intelligence agencies confirmed that Islamic State (ISIS) bomb-makers were modifying devices that would allow explosives to be placed inside laptop battery compartments. A laptop bomb was detonated on a Daallo Airlines flight from Somalia to the Republic of Djibouti in February 2016.
Devices banned from the cabin include laptops, tablets, e-readers, cameras, portable DVD players, electronic gaming units larger than a smartphone and travel printers/scanners. The ban was focused on 10 airports in eight Middle East and African countries due to the greater threat in those areas.
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The affected airports are Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, Jordan; Kuwait International Airport; Cairo International Airport in Egypt; Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul, Turkey; King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Mohammad V Airport in Casablanca, Morocco; Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar; and Dubai International Airport and Abu Dhabi International Airport in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
"Evaluated intelligence indicates that terrorist groups continue to target commercial aviation and are aggressively pursuing innovative methods to undertake their attacks, to include smuggling explosive devices in various consumer items," a U.S. official told BuzzFeed.
The Guardian reported of an uncovered plot to bring down a plane with explosives hidden in a fake iPad. Intelligence sources indicated that an explosion in a cabin can cause severe damage than in the cargo hold where the bomb could be buried underneath luggage.
Two Middle Eastern airlines have responded to the ban by offering to lend electronic devices to their passengers on U.S.-bound flights. Qatar Airways announced it will lend laptops to its business class passengers. UAE's Etihad Airways, on the other hand, offered to lend iPads to its first and business class customers.
