US Tightens Cellphone Checks on US-Bound Passengers at Int’l Airports

Local Editor

Passengers using airports that offer direct flights to the US may be forced to switch on their mobile phones and other electronic devices before boarding planes in order to prove that they do not contain explosives, the Transportation Security Administration announced on Sunday.

According to a post on the website of Transportation Security Administration [TSA], a unit of the Department of Homeland Security, some overseas passengers flying to the US are required to turn on their electronic devices including cell phones and tablets before boarding.

The released statement said: "As the traveling public knows, all electronic devices are screened by security officers. During the security examination, officers may also ask that owners power up some devices, including cell phones."

It warned that no powerless device is permitted onboard US-bound planes: "Powerless devices will not be permitted onboard the aircraft."

The statement further added that passengers "may also undergo additional screening."

It failed however to mention which airports would be affected by the new measures.

TSA said the new measures are adopted after Secretary of Homeland Security recently last week directed the agency to increase the security level at certain overseas airports.

It was reported last week that passengers at British airports travelling to the US were facing extra checks on phones. Belgian officials said passengers there would also have devices checked.

Britain's Department for Transport [DfT] advised that the new restriction meant any electronic device with a flat battery would not be allowed on flights.

Moreover, France, Britain and Canada have already announced their plans to step up their security measures following last week's warnings from US intelligence officials that militants from Yemen who specialize in making bombs have traveled to Syria to link up with other insurgents there to learn how to develop a new bomb that could go undetected through airport security.

Washington and its allies including Paris and London have been training the insurgent groups which are fighting against the Syrian government.

A few days ago, US Senator Rand Paul criticized the White House for forging an alliance with Takfiri terrorist groups in Syria. He said the so-called "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" [ISIL] militants who are fighting against the Syrian and the Iraqi governments could not have been this powerful if Washington had not supported them in Syria.

Since the foreign-backed insurgency began in Syria, many extremists from the US and other western countries have travelled to Syria.

American Intelligence officials are now concerned that these militants who hold Western passports could take the undetectable bombs into the US.

The Western concerns come as many countries including Iran, Russia and Syria have repeatedly warned that supporting such terrorist groups as done by the US and its allies will backfire sooner or later.

Sources: News Agencies, Edited by website team