WASHINGTON: US Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly on Sunday said he was considering banning laptop computers on international flights into and out of the country amid signs of “a real threat.”
Kelly made his remarks during the Memorial Day weekend, one of the busiest travel periods in the United States, at a time when the bombing at a concert in Manchester, England has raised concerns that further attacks — possibly involving explosives packed in electronic devices — may be planned.
“There’s a real threat — numerous threats against aviation,” Kelly told the Fox News Sunday programme when asked about the likelihood a wide-reaching ban on large electronics in airplane cabins could be imposed.
Terrorists are “obsessed” with the idea of “knocking down an airplane in flight — particularly a US carrier, if it’s full of mostly US folks,” the homeland security chief said. But in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” later, Kelly specified that despite ongoing and persistent concerns, “we have no specific threats right now.”
A laptop ban could disrupt travel between Europe and America. — AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
