"Washington (CNN) -- Terrorists intent on striking commercial aircraft have shown renewed interest in surgically implanting explosives in humans to circumvent airport security, a U.S. security official tells CNN. The idea of implanting bombs has been discussed in the past, but the United States has obtained fresh intelligence about the desire of terrorists to implant devices, according to the official. Another U.S. official said Ibrahim Hasan al-Asiri, the top bomb maker for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), is suspected of being behind the latest efforts. "He's AQAP's bomb guy," said the official. Asiri is also believed to be behind the thwarted 2009 Christmas day "underwear" bomb, the failed October 2010 cargo plane bomb and an attempt to kill a Saudi prince using a concealed bomb Both officials said there is no specific or imminent threat. But the new intelligence prompted officials last week to brief international airlines and U.S. allies overseas, a Transportation Security Administration spokesman said. "We are treating this information seriously, and as a precautionary matter, sharing it with our colleagues overseas and of course U.S. carriers who travel overseas," TSA Administrator John Pistole told CNN. "We see this as the latest iteration or the evolution of what terrorist groups are trying to do to circumvent our security layers and to perhaps defeat our societal norms," he said..." |
