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:
- Nigeria: Boko Haram IED attacks killed 121 civilians, soldiers and CJTF personnel in 16 months
July 9, 2025
At least 121 civilians and security personnel have reportedly died from Boko Haram Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosions in Borno and Yobe states, data compiled by Daily Trust has revealed. According to the data, 77 civilians, 27 soldiers and 17 members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) were killed in Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosions ...
- Pakistan: Bomb defused in Lakki Marwat
July 9, 2025
The police on Tuesday defused a bomb in the Michenkhel area of Lakki Marwat district. An official said that local residents spotted a suspected object along a dirt track in the urban locality and informed police. The cops stopped movement of individuals and vehicles on the road for some time while the BDS personnel defused the ...
- Kenya: Seven police officers injured in Mandera IED attack
July 9, 2025
Seven police officers were injured early Tuesday morning after their patrol vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED) along the Gadudia-Laga Road in Mandera East, near the Kenya-Somalia border. The officers were travelling from Bambo towards Mandera town when the blast occurred at around 1:00 am between Aresa and Khalalio, roughly four kilometres west ...
- Pakistan: One dead, three children injured in KP’s Bannu after quadcopter attacks by militants
July 9, 2025
One person was killed while three children were injured after militants carried out two quadcopter attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district on Wednesday, according to police. The incident comes after reports of multiple quadcopter and drone attacks in KP and Balochistan over the past year. In March, at least 11 people were killed in Mardan in ...
- Sahel militants turn civilian drones into deadly weapons
July 8, 2025
Terror groups are increasingly using new tactics, notably armed suicide or kamikaze drones, according to a government statement released following several attacks on cities in western Mali on 1 July. The use of commercially available small civilian drones for strikes by terrorist and armed rebel groups is not limited to Mali, and has become prevalent throughout ...
- Israel: 5 IDF soldiers killed, 14 wounded in IED attack in northern Gaza
July 8, 2025
The Israel Defense Forces named four soldiers had been killed fighting in the northern Gaza Strip Beit Hanoun on Monday, with another also killed in the same incident. Fourteen soldiers were also wounded as the 97th Battalion (Netzah Yehuda) faced an IED attack. The battalion’s losses included Staff Sergeant Noam Aharon Musgadian, Sergeant Moshe Nissim Frech, ...
- Pakistan: Three officers injured in blast on highway police vehicle in Balochistan’s Nasirabad
July 7, 2025
Three cops were injured in an attack on a highway police vehicle in Balochistan’s Nasirabad District on Monday, an official said. Highway Police’s Senior Superintendent of Police Khadim Husain said that the incident took place when the highway police team was patrolling the area as per routine. Citing preliminary reports, Husain said the blast was conducted through ...
- Israel: IDF strikes targets in Yemen, Houthis launch 2 ballistic missiles
July 7, 2025
The Israel Defense Forces said that it had struck Houthi targets overnight in the Yemeni coastal cities of Hodeidah, Ras Issa, and al-Salif; hours later, the Iran-backed terror group launched ballistic missiles, triggering sirens in the Dead Sea area. Israeli warplanes hit about 20 targets, including the ship Galaxy Leader, which was hijacked and used for ...
- Thailand: Police officer shot in Yala, two rangers injured by explosion in Narathiwat
July 6, 2025
A traffic police officer was shot dead by southern insurgents as he was directing traffic in front of a convenience store in Krong Pinang district of Yala province on Saturday night. Police say that the insurgents were waiting opposite the 7-Eleven store and fired one shot at 24-year-old Pol Corporal Tanyathep Sikhajarn as he left the ...
- Ireland: Gardaí probe if Aughinish bomb linked to Russian attack on Ukraine
July 6, 2025
Gardaí are investigating if a “viable” bomb found near a Russian-owned alumina refinery in Limerick last Friday had been a direct reaction to Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. On Friday afternoon a bomb was discovered attached to a fuel tank that services the sports and social club building of the Russian-owned Aughinish Alumina refinery. A spokesman ...
- Red Sea: Crew abandons cargo ship after drone, grenade attack
July 6, 2025
Crew members onboard a Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned ship that was set ablaze in an attack in the Red Sea have abandoned the vessel and were rescued, according to a British maritime agency. The attack, which took place some 94km (51 nautical miles) southwest of the Yemeni port of Hodeidah on Sunday, was the first such incident in ...
- Israel: IDF investigation established Sgt Asaf Zamir killed by IED placed near tank
July 6, 2025
An IDF investigation published this morning (Sunday) reveals that the incident in which Sergeant Assaf Zamir was killed and four other soldiers were injured was not caused by an anti-tank missile, as initially reported, but by an explosive device placed by a terrorist near the tank. The terrorist fled the scene after placing the device. The ...
- India: Injured elephant dies after suspected Maoist IED blast in Jharkhand’s Saranda forest
July 6, 2025
A six-year-old wild elephant named ‘Gadru’, which was seriously injured in a suspected IED blast planted by Maoists in the Saranda Forest of Chaibasa, has sadly succumbed to its injuries despite intensive treatment efforts. The elephant had been spotted wandering in the forest in an injured condition ten days ago. Gadru was believed to have sustained ...
- 7/7 bombings: How the tragic events of July 2005 changed UK counter-terrorism forever
July 5, 2025
It is a date seared into the collective memories of all over a certain age. That morning on July 7, 2005, just before 9am, suicide bombers detonated devices on three Tube trains in central London. An hour later, a fourth device ripped through a number 30 bus near Euston station. The so-called “7/7 bombings” killed 52 ...
- Nigerian troops uncover cache of 56 explosive devices planted by Boko Haram on Borno bridge
July 4, 2025
The Nigerian Army disclosed this in a statement released on Friday, stating that the discovery was made during a targeted clearance operation. Troops of Operation Hadin Kai, in collaboration with members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), have uncovered a massive cache of 56 fully prepared improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted by Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists ...