The United States and Britain have banned larger electronic devices from the passenger cabin on flights.
This indefinite move applies to ten different airports in Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Qatar, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates, according to the Intelligence Reports obtained in few weeks.
The report says, an Al-Qaeda affiliate was planning to hide explosives in batteries and battery compartments of electronic devices, which compelled the ban of the devices.
A US official, said, “The exploitation of the batteries, compartments in laptops and other commercial electronic devices, by Al-Qaeda, has led the U.S and UK to ban devices larger than a cell phone from certain flights.”
The announcements made yesterday, laid, the new security restrictions require airlines, based in the Middle East and North Africa, to stop people flying from eight countries. This in turn, will prevent the passengers from bringing any device bigger than a smart phone on board their aircraft.
The US has given time for the eight countries, to inform travelers to America to pack laptops, tablets and portable game consoles in the cargo hold.
The bans involve some of the widest-reaching aviation security measures taken since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
U.S. officials reported that intelligence indicates terrorist groups continue to target commercial aviation" by smuggling explosive devices in various consumer items.
According to senior administration officials, more than 50 flights from 10 airports, in the mainly Muslim countries will be affected by the US ban. This will also include major hubs such as Dubai and Istanbul.
Indian passengers traveling to US via Middle Eastern countries, will be most affected, by these new immigration rules.
An official from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), commenting on the Trump administration's new move, said "What we have learned is that airlines are responsible for imposing the ban. Passengers traveling directly to the US from India are not affected."
"But if the passengers are traveling through the Gulf, or any of the any of the eight countries where the ban is imposed, then the passengers have to keep the electronic devices other than mobile phones in the checked baggage. We are not issuing any advisory as of now," added the official.
Meanwhile, after both the US and Britain announced bans, the Canadian government is also considering prohibiting personal electronics on board flights from Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa.
Canadian politician and the Minister of Transport, Marc Garneau, told reporters, that “they have been looking at the information, presented to them. We will look at it carefully and have a discussion among our colleagues.”
"The (threat) information, has been provided to us by other intelligence communities,” added Mr. Garneau.
The administration has cited several incidents where terrorists have targeted commercial aircraft in the past two years, including one incident in Somalia. This Somalia incident occurred due to someone smuggling a device onto a Daallo Airlines flight last year.
By Supraja
