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:
- The Houthis have built their own drone industry in Yemen
June 13, 2020
Hind Al Soulia – Riyadh – Iranian proxy forces have created their own drone manufacturing industry, increasing threats to the Gulf region, defence experts and intelligence sources have warned. There are increased security concerns that Houthi rebels in Yemen are becoming increasingly capable in making unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that can carry explosives long distances. Their new ...
- Deadly blast in a Kabul mosque kills a prominent religious cleric
June 12, 2020
A deadly blast on a mosque in Kabul during the Friday prayers killed 4 including a prominent religious cleric, the Ministry of Interior Affairs said. According to the Ministry, the explosives were placed inside the mosque that killed Azizullah Mofleh, the Imam of Shir Shah Souri Mosque in Karte 4 area of Kabul and three others. This ...
- Pakistan: One killed, 15 injured in Rawalpindi blast
June 12, 2020
A man was killed and 15 others were injured in an IED blast in Rawalpindi’s Saddar area, police said Friday. The Rawalpindi CCPO and other police officials along with the bomb disposal squad immediately reached the spot. The body and the wounded persons were shifted to DHQ and Cantonment General hospitals, according to the Rawalpindi deputy commissioner. Initial ...
- Two Pakistani Troops Killed In North Waziristan Bomb Attack
June 11, 2020
A roadside bomb targeting a vehicle carrying troops has exploded in northwestern Pakistan, killing two soldiers and wounding two others, the military says. The Pakistani army said in a statement on June 10 that the attack occurred near the town of Miran Shah, the main urban center in the North Waziristan tribal district that borders Afghanistan. No one immediately ...
- Al-Shabaab could smuggle bomb ingredients as local resources run out – UN
June 11, 2020
Depletion of locally available ingredients for making explosives could force the militant group Al-Shabaab to smuggle the components into the country, the UN has warned. The chair of the UN Security on Somalia, Marc Pecsteen de Buytswerve, told the Council Wednesday (10th June) Al-Shabaab was capable of smuggling precursors for producing bombs in light of dwindling ...
- Terrorists Capitalize on COVID-19 to Erode State Authority, Attack National, International Forces in Sahel, Peacekeeping Chief Tells Security Council
June 10, 2020
African Members Emphasize Urgent Need to Boost Operational Capacity of G5 Sahel Joint Force, Humanitarian Relief for Displaced COVID-19 has added a layer of complexity to the highly volatile security situation in the Sahel, with terrorists capitalizing on the pandemic to undermine State authority and launch unrelenting attacks against national and international forces, the head of ...
- Northern Ireland: Shandon Park bomb accused in bid to have case thrown out
June 9, 2020
A man accused of trying to murder a PSNI officer is to mount a legal bid to have the case thrown out, it emerged today. 39 year-old Peter Granaghan faces charges linked to a bomb found under the off-duty policeman’s car at a golf club in east Belfast 12 months ago. He was expected to be returned ...
- Ten Ukraine servicemen injured in Spartan vehicle blast in Avdiyivka
June 9, 2020
Ten Ukrainian servicemen were injured in a blast as a Spartan armored personnel carrier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine hit an unidentified explosive device in the town of Avdiyivka, Donetsk region, on Tuesday morning. Law enforcement agencies opened a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 258 (an act of terrorism) of the Criminal Code ...
- NE Syria: Bomb attack kills 2 civilians in Ras al-Ayn
June 5, 2020
Two civilians were killed in a bomb attack in northeastern Syria, security sources said Friday. An explosives-laden car detonated in the town of Ras al-Ayn, wounding five other civilians, according to the sources who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media. Local security forces suspect the YPG/PKK terror group may be ...
- Southeast Asia’s Overlooked Foreign Fighter Problem
June 5, 2020
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) continues to confront a dilemma: what to do with the fighters accused of fleeing to Syria to join the Islamic State. To the extent that this issue gets any airtime in English-language press, the focus tends to be on the 800 or so European fighters and their families. But English-language outlets tend ...
- Nigeria: How explosion killed nine-year-old child of suspected Boko Haram member
June 5, 2020
A nine-year-old boy was on Monday killed and his teenage brother injured by an explosive device they had taken to an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Maiduguri, Borno State for their father. The kids had taken the device from Bama on the instruction of their father who is a suspected member of Boko Haram. The incident ...
- Explosion leaves 4 dead, wounded in Kabul
June 4, 2020
An explosion killed a civilian and wounded three others in Kabul earlier today, the security officials said. Officials in Kabul Police Headquarters confirmed that a roadside bomb went off in Qarabagh district earlier today, killing one civilian and wounding three others. The officials further added that the Taliban militants had planted the roadside bomb but the group ...
- Assam: IED recovered at Bogapani, defused by army’s bomb squad
June 3, 2020
Security forces on Wednesday recovered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at Bogapani, which was wrapped in polythene. The IED was recovered from NH 36 and it was diffused by a bomb squad of the army from Dinjan. It is suspected that ULFA (I) had placed the IED at Bogapani to create panic among the locals. It may be ...
- Roadside bomb kills nine civilians in southern Afghanistan
June 3, 2020
A roadside blast of an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province killed at least nine civilians, an official confirmed. Baheer Amadi, a spokesman for the provincial governor, told Anadolu Agency that the incident took place in the Arghistan district around noon local time when a passenger bus hit the improvised explosive device. He confirmed nine ...
- Suicide bombing at Kabul mosque kills two, wounds two
June 3, 2020
A security guard for the U.S. Embassy and a prominent religious scholar died after a suicide bomb blast struck a mosque near the entrance of Kabul’s diplomatic zone Tuesday night. The blast at the Wazir Akbar Khan mosque, located about half a mile from the U.S. Embassy, killed its prayer leader, Ayaz Niazi, a scholar and ...