US warns airlines on human bomb implants

PanARMENIAN.Net - Militants from al Qaeda's Yemeni branch are considering surgically implanting explosive devices in would-be suicide bombers, possibly with the aim of blowing up airliners, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

The new intelligence on plotting by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, considered the group's most dangerous affiliate, led the Obama administration to warn foreign governments and American and international airline executives over the past several days that terrorists might attempt to board planes with explosives concealed in their bodies.

The Department of Homeland Security hasn't warned of a specific plot, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. But the specter of militants carrying bombs within them—perhaps stitched into the abdomen, breasts or buttocks—is prompting additional security measures at U.S. airports and overseas airports serving U.S. destinations, the Transportation Security Administration said in a written release.

Al Qaeda militants have gone so far as to discuss which anatomical regions would be preferable for an explosive implant, a U.S. counterterrorism official said, although the official declined to specify which region they recommended. The efforts appear to be still in the early planning phase, according to the official.

Security experts said that, to date, there was no record of terrorists attempting to carry out such an attack.

In recent years, the TSA has added hundreds of new full-body screening machines at scores of airports to complement metal detectors and help detect hard-to-find items that could pose a security threat. The new scanners, however, likely wouldn't be able to identify explosive devices implanted inside a body. That has prompted many security experts to urge alternative security measures, including profiling a passenger's behavior and demeanor to identify security risks.

"What technology can we use? The simple answer is the human brain—that's the only way to address the threat," said Philip Baum, founder of Green Light Limited, a U.K. aviation-security consultancy. Given that drug smugglers have implanted contraband for years, he said, he was surprised terrorists hadn't tried to do the same with explosives, The Wall Street Journal reported.