Terrorists develop laptop bombs capable of bypassing airport security screening

US intelligence and law enforcement agencies claim that laptop bombs developed by the Islamic State (banned in Russia) and other terror groups may be able to evade airport security screening, media reported. (Photo: whity/Flickr)

WASHINGTON—US intelligence and law enforcement agencies claim that laptop bombs developed by the Islamic State (banned in Russia) and other terror groups may be able to evade airport security screening, media reported.

Earlier on Friday, CNN reported the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) determined after a series of tests that laptop bombs would be very difficult to detect with screening machines widely used in the United States and other countries.

On March 20, the US government announced electronic devices larger than a cellphone would be banned in commercial aircraft cabins due to security threats on direct flights from ten airports in Middle Eastern and North African countries, including in Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

The United Kingdom has introduced a similar restriction on flights from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Turkey.

The prohibited devices may only be carried in checked luggage.

In the last several months, US intelligence gathered information suggesting that terrorists had developed a way to smuggle bombs on electronic devices, the report stated.