Airports to Crack Down on Phones Amid Terror Fears

Bombs could be surgically implanted: Daily Mail
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 4, 2014 9:25 AM CDT
Airports to Crack Down on Phones Amid Terror Fears
In this Jan. 4, 2010 file photo, TSA officer Robert Howard signals an airline passenger forward at a security check-point at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.   (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)

As the US bolsters security at airports at home and abroad, officials have been concerned about "creative," hard-to-spot bombs. Now, they'll be cracking down on phones and shoes in an effort to detect any such weapons on flights bound for the US, Reuters reports. iPhones and Samsung Galaxy phones apparently merit particular scrutiny. Officials are worried that al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula may be able to make explosives out of the phones or other electronics; officials also fear bombs could be secretly installed in shoes, they tell Reuters.

Phones and shoes aren't the only threats, however: The human body itself may be a danger, according to the Daily Mail. A major source of concern is Ibrahim al-Asiri, a Saudi chemistry student behind the 2009 underwear bomb attempt. It may be possible to surgically implant his metal-free devices inside the body, leaving them "virtually undetectable," the paper reports. The explosives may also be concealed in clothing, the Mail notes. A US official says the stepped-up security is due to a "real time, credible" threat. (More smartphones stories.)

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