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:
- Somalia: Al-Qaida-linked militants attack a strategic town in Middle Shabelle
April 16, 2025
The Somalia-based militant group al-Shabab on Wednesday attacked a strategic town that serves as a major base for government troops, raising new concerns about the sustainability of the fight against the al-Qaida-linked militants. The dawn attack on Adan Yabal in Middle Shabelle region started with the launching of explosives before the militants attacked on foot on ...
- Nigeria: Bridge destroyed as IED ‘planted by ISWAP terrorists’ explodes in Borno
April 16, 2025
Suspected Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters have detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) on Mandafuma bridge, along Biu-Damboa road in Borno state. The explosion was aimed at hindering military reinforcements traveling through the area, and to disrupt the movement of motorists and passengers along the route. On April 12, eight travelers were killed following ...
- Pakistan: Three police officers killed, 16 injured as Balochistan Constabulary targeted in Mastung IED blast
April 15, 2025
Three policemen were martyred and at least 16 others were injured on Tuesday morning as a blast targeted a vehicle of the Balochistan Constabulary on Mastung district’s Dasht Road, officials said. Militants in Balochistan, previously engaged in a low-level insurgency, have recently intensified their attacks. The banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) emerged as a key ...
- France: Prisons targeted with gunfire and arson over a new anti-drug crackdown
April 15, 2025
French prosecutors said Tuesday they have opened an investigation alleging terrorist conspiracy and attempted murder after several prisons were targeted in incidents that included gunfire and arson. Top officials described the attacks as a response to renewed government efforts to fight drug trafficking. Overnight Monday to Tuesday, an automatic weapon was fired at the main entrance ...
- Pennsylvania: A man has been arrested for allegedly setting fire to the governor’s residence
April 14, 2025
Pennsylvania State Police have arrested a Harrisburg man they say broke into Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence early Sunday and lit a fire while Shapiro and his family were sleeping. Shapiro, his wife Lori, their four children, two dogs and another family were forced to evacuate from the home, which was significantly damaged by the fire. There ...
- Thailand: Four rangers injured by motorcycle bomb in Narathiwat
April 13, 2025
Four rangers were injured when a bomb hidden in a motorcycle with a sidecar went off near their housing unit in Rangae district on Sunday. Security cameras installed near the blast site showed an unknown number of men driving the motorcycle with a sidecar to Wat Chairattanaram, close to the sleeping quarters of Ranger Company 4503. ...
- Nigeria: A roadside bomb kills 8 bus passengers in Borno
April 13, 2025
A roadside bomb suspected to have been planted by Islamic extremists in northeastern Nigeria struck a passenger bus, killing eight people and wounding more than a dozen others, authorities said. The bus was traveling along the Damboa-Maiduguri highway in the conflict-battered Borno state on Saturday when it drove over the explosive device, Borno state police spokesman ...
- India: Jawan killed while trying to defuse IED
April 13, 2025
A Jharkhand Jaguar jawan was killed and a head constable of 203 battalion of CoBRA sustained injuries while trying to defuse an IED planted by Maoists in West Singhbhum’s Saranda forests Saturday. Gunfight broke out on borders of Chotanagra & Jaraikela thana limits. The extremists detonated IED before retreating. Constable Sunil Dhan & head constable Vishnu ...
- Lake Chad: Under the radar, women traffic IED parts to Boko Haram
April 11, 2025
In February last year, two women were arrested in Kolofata, Cameroon, near the Nigerian border, for carrying tiny amounts of ammonium nitrate fertiliser. Kolofata’s gendarmerie brigade commander Ntsie Virgile, who told ENACT about this incident, said the women were arrested because the fertiliser has the potential to be used as a precursor for or component of ...
- Sri Lanka: US Government identifies mastermind of 2019 Easter Sunday attack
April 11, 2025
In an extraordinary affidavit submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the United States government, through the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), has definitively identified Zahran Hashim as the mastermind behind the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka. The attacks, which took place on 21st April 2019, resulted in the ...
- Niger army says 15 terrorists killed in security operations
April 10, 2025
The army of Niger has confirmed that it had killed 15 terrorists in operations last Sunday in the western part of the country. According to its weekly bulletin released on Wednesday, the first operation was conducted along the Dargol-Bangno-Tchekirey-Goundey route, resulting in the “neutralization” of 13 criminals. An enemy post located along the route, serving as ...
- Pakistan: Police defuse 15kg bomb in Lakki Marwat
April 10, 2025
The police foiled a terror bid by defusing an indigenously made bomb in Wanda Maidali area of Lakki Marwat district on Wednesday. A police official said that unknown miscreants had planted an explosive device in a room adjacent to a tube well in the remote locality to carry out a subversive act. He said the police ...
- India: BSF jawan injured in IED blast along India-Pakistan border in Gurdaspur
April 9, 2025
A Border Security Force (BSF) jawan was injured in an IED blast that occurred along the India-Pakistan international border in Punjab, the force said in a statement on Wednesday. The incident took place on the intervening night of April 8-9 in Gurdaspur district, it said. As per information, a BSF party was undertaking an “area domination” ...
- Kenya: Investigation launched into Mandera IED explosion
April 8, 2025
DCI detectives have launched investigation into an IED explosion that occurred in Mandera leaving one person with injuries. The incident is reported to have occurred in a hotel blowing its rooftop off. Three people who were inside escaped unhurt as one sustained a fractured leg and injury to the abdomen. “A multi-agency security team has launched ...
- Philippines: IED blast leaves 6 soldiers, 1 civilian hurt in Iloilo
April 7, 2025
Six soldiers and a civilian were wounded when an alleged improvised explosive device blew up in Janiuay town, Iloilo, on Friday. Members of the 601st Brigade of the Philippine Army and a 64-year-old civilian were struck by shrapnel. The military said suspected members of the New People’s Army (NPA) were responsible for planting the explosive near ...
