The co-pilot of the FlyDubai plane who allegedly attacked the plane’s captain and attempted to crash a flight bound for Israel on Wednesday is an Omani national who was previously suspended from flying by Oman Air after being identified as a security risk, according to senior intelligence and law enforcement officials.
Multiple sources familiar with the investigation identified the suspected attacker as 29-year-old Hamam Al Hammami.
The officials told ABC News that Al Hammami, while working as a co-pilot trainee for Oman Air in 2024, was found to be in possession of extremist materials. The suspect was allowed to continue working for the airline in an administrative role, the sources said.
Read more…
Source: ABC News
Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletters
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Pakistan: IED blast reported near Quetta’s Essa Nagri
December 18, 2020
A bomb blast was reported near Quetta’s Essa Nagri on Friday afternoon. The explosion took place near Muslim Town. “A remote control device was used in the blast,” a police officer said. An FC convoy was the target of the attack, according to the police. The area has been cordoned off. So far, no casualties or injuries have ...
- Afghanistan: 3 Killed in Targeted Attacks in Kabul in Past 24 Hours
December 16, 2020
At least three people were killed in a fresh spate of targeted killings in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul over the past 24 hours. The first incident took the life of security guard of Ahmad Malikzada, the security guard in charge of Bagrami district in PD15 when an IED blast targeted his vehicle. Malikzada and another guard were wounded. Meanwhile, ...
- Saudi Arabia: Explosives-laden boat hits fuel ship at Jeddah port, ministry says
December 14, 2020
Saudi Arabia said on Monday that a fuel transport ship anchored at a Jeddah terminal was hit by an explosive-laden boat in what it called a terrorist attack, after shipping firm Hafnia said one of its tankers was struck by an “external source”. A Saudi energy ministry spokesman, in a statement carried on state media, did ...
- Pakistan: 25 injured in Rawalpindi grenade explosion
December 14, 2020
In a second blast in the garrison city of Rawalpindi this month, over two dozen people including women and children were injured in the busy Ganj Mandi area on Sunday. The explosion, which took place at around 2pm just a few hundred metres from the Ganj Mandi police station and close to a water filtration plant, ...
- Afghanistan: 2 Killed, 2 Wounded in Kabul Magnetic IED Blast
December 13, 2020
At least two people were killed and two were wounded in a magnetic IED blast in Kabul city on Sunday morning, Kabul police confirmed. The incident happened around 7:45am local time close to Parwan Hotel in PD15 of Kabul city after a magnetic IED detonated against a Toyota Landcruiser vehicle, said Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz. Faramarz ...
- India: ITBP trooper injured in IED blast
December 13, 2020
An Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) trooper was injured when a pressure improvised explosive device (IED) planted by Naxalites went off in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district on Saturday, police said. The blast occurred around 1 pm on the Narayanpur-Kurusnar road in the Kurusnar police station area where a team from the ITBP’s 53rd Battalion was on patrol, Inspector ...
- Northern Ireland: Man appears in court charged in connection with ‘spate’ of pipe bomb attacks in Derry in recent years
December 12, 2020
A 33-year-old man appeared in court today charged in connection with a ‘spate’ of pipe bomb attacks in Derry. Noel Logan, from Nelson Drive, appeared at a special sitting of Derry Magistrates Court. He is charged with making explosive substances and being in possession of improvised explosive devices on three separate occasions in recent years. The alleged offences ...
- UN Adopts Resolution on Afghanistan, Calls for End to Violence
December 11, 2020
The United Nations General Assembly’s resolution on the situation in Afghanistan was adopted on Friday by a majority of 131 votes, supporting an inclusive Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process and calling on all Afghan actors to make sustained efforts to reduce and end violence in the country. The UN members in this resolution reaffirmed their strong ...
- IS steps up Sinai fight with bombs in civilian homes
December 9, 2020
Residents of Egypt’s restive North Sinai region ran for their lives when an Islamic State group affiliate occupied their villages. Now, they are returning to find their homes booby-trapped. “I lost my sister-in-law and her nine-month-old baby when an explosive device planted in their home went off,” said a young resident of Aqtiya village, who asked ...
- Pakistan: ‘Two militants involved in sectarian killings’ held by CTD
December 9, 2020
Sindh’s Counter-Terrorism Department on Tuesday claimed to have arrested two militants affiliated with a banned sectarian outfit. The CTD said the arrested men were involved in high profile targeted killings of religious scholars and were members of the proscribed Sipah-e-Muhammad’s Agha Hassan Group. According to CTD officials, the arrests were made in a raid conducted near ...
- Afghanistan: Car Bomb in Kandahar Wounds 22 Civilians, 9 Police
December 7, 2020
A car bomb exploded near the Daman district police HQ and the governor’s compound in southern Kandahar, wounding over 30 people–and at least 22 civilians–and the police chief, local officials said. At least nine police including the chief Abdul Wadoud, two National Directorate of Security (NDS) personnel, seven employees at the district governor’s compound and at ...
- Manchester Arena bomber’s brother Hashem Abedi admits involvement
December 7, 2020
The brother of the Manchester Arena bomber has admitted his involvement in planning the attack for the first time. Hashem Abedi, 23, was jailed for murdering the 22 people who were killed in the bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in May 2017. During his trial, Hashem denied helping his brother Salman, 22, plan the attack that ...
- Afghanistan: 3 NDS Personnel Killed in Paktia Blast
December 3, 2020
At least 3 members of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) were killed and 19 civilians were wounded in a blast that targeted a security patrol in Gardez city, local officials in the eastern province said on Thursday. Abdul Rahman Mangal, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said that the incident resulted from a car bomb ...
- India: Two persons injured as Naxals blow up vehicle with IED in Chhattisgarh
December 1, 2020
Two civilians were injured in an IED blast in the Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, IG Bastar P Sundarraj said. Both the injured civilians are out of danger and are being treated in CRPF Hospital in Basaguda. The incident took place near Rajpenta village between Basaguda and Tarrem villages around 9 am when the two victims were heading ...
- Afghanistan: Russian Diplomatic Mission’s Car Hit by IED in Kabul
December 1, 2020
According to initial reports, a military pickup driving in front of the diplomatic vehicle might have been the actual target, although it has not been excluded that the Russian personnel were targeted either. A vehicle belonging to the Russian diplomatic mission in Afghanistan has been hit by the detonation of an improvised explosive device (IED) in ...