You might have seen reports today about heightened concerns for airline travel. Some media reports are discussing explosives that can be hidden from normal detection methods, or similar.
Here’s a snippet of a report from the AP wire – something about the way this report is worded spikes the spidey sense. (The emphasis is mine):
WASHINGTON – Intelligence officials are concerned about a new al-Qaida effort to create a bomb that would go undetected through airport security, according to a counterterrorism official, prompting the U.S. to call for tighter security measures Wednesday at some foreign airports.
The counterterrorism official, who would not be named because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, declined to describe the kind of information that triggered this warning.
[…] American intelligence has picked up indications that bomb makers from al-Qaida’s Yemen affiliate have traveled to Syria to link up with the al-Qaida affiliate there. The groups are working to perfect an explosive device that could foil airport security, the counterterrorism official said.
Americans and others from the West have traveled to Syria over the past year to join al Nusra Front’s fight against the Syrian government. The fear is that fighters with a U.S. or Western passport — and therefore subject to less stringent security screening — could carry such a bomb onto an American plane.
Al-Qaida’s affiliate in Yemen, called al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, long has been fixated on bringing down airplanes with hidden explosives. It was behind failed and thwarted plots involving suicide bombers with explosives designed to hide inside underwear and explosives hidden inside printer cartridges shipped on cargo planes.
[…] It wasn’t clear which airports were affected by the extra security measures, but industry data show that more than 250 foreign airports offer nonstop service to the U.S., including Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport, Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport and the United Arab Emirates’ Dubai International Airport.
The call for increased security was not connected to Iraq or the recent violence there, said a second U.S. counterterrorism official who was not authorized to speak publicly by name. Another U.S. official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the increased security measures had nothing to do with the upcoming July Fourth holiday or any specific threat. (read more)
Do you know what an explosive device that can get past airport security looks like ?
This:
And given the recent discussions we’ve been having….. could the “undetectable” explosives concern/explanation/warning be a cover ?
