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:
- Senegal: 4 soldiers killed in the explosion of an anti-tank mine in Casamance
December 15, 2023
Four Senegalese soldiers were killed in Casamance when their vehicle hit an anti-tank mine in this region of southern Senegal in the grip of an independence rebellion, according to the army. The incident occurred on Thursday “during a mission” in North Bignona, near the Gambian border, and also left “three injured”, indicated the Directorate of Public ...
- INTERPOL: Over 1,700 arrested in landmark operation across Asia targeting Illicit firearms
December 15, 2023
LYON, France – In the first operation coordinated across Asia by INTERPOL against illicit firearms, authorities in 10 countries have made over 1,700 arrests and seized 714 firearms, 921 parts and components, and 45,383 rounds of ammunition. From 13 – 24 November, Operation Trigger-Salvo II aimed to disrupt the cross-border movement of firearms, and determine potential ...
- Houthis fire at, attempt to divert several vessels off coast of Yemen
December 15, 2023
The Iran-backed Houthi militia continued attacks on maritime traffic in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden on Friday morning, with UK authorities reporting that one vessel was hit by an unknown object, sparking a fire, while another was ordered to alter course toward Yemen. The first incident was reported at about 6:40 a.m. Israel time, ...
- Four arrested in Europe over alleged cross-border Hamas terrorism plot
December 14, 2023
Four people have been arrested in Germany and the Netherlands on suspicion of being part of a cross-border Hamas terror plot that German prosecutors said aimed to obtain weapons to target Jewish institutions in Europe. The office of Germany’s federal prosecutor said three men had been detained in Berlin and the fourth in Rotterdam on Thursday ...
- Benin: Two soldiers killed in IED explosion in Alibori
December 13, 2023
Two soldiers of Benin’s armed forces died Tuesday December 12 in the explosion of an improvised explosive device (IED) in the commune of Karimama, north of the country reeling with terrorism activities. The incident reportedly occurred at Bako Moko in the commune. The soldiers’ motorbike ran over an IED on their way after they left a ...
- Israeli commanders among nine soldiers killed in Hamas ambush
December 13, 2023
Two senior Israeli commanders and seven other soldiers have been killed by Hamas in a complex ambush in the Gaza City suburb of Shejaiya, an area that has seen intense urban fighting in recent days. Lt Col Tomer Greenberg, a commander in the Golani Brigade, who had fought against Hamas during its attack on the southern ...
- Pakistan: 25 soldiers killed in Dera Ismail Khan attack
December 12, 2023
Twenty-five Pakistan Army soldiers were martyred while 27 terrorists were killed in three separate incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan, the military’s media affairs wing said on Tuesday. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), “heightened activities” were witnessed in the district on the nights of December 11 and 12. In the early hours today, ...
- India: Two security personnel injured in IED blast in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma
December 11, 2023
Two security personnel were injured when a pressure improvised explosive device (IED) planted by Naxalites exploded in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on Monday, police said. The blast occurred at around 10.15 am in Kistaram police station area, where a joint team of security personnel was patrolling to provide security to a road construction work, an official ...
- Pakistan: Police official killed in Khuzdar blast
December 10, 2023
A station house officer (SHO) of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) was martyred on Sunday in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in Balochistan’s Khuzdar. The police officer was identified as SHO Murad Baksh Jamot. Police sources confirmed that the blast took place in the Sultan Ibrahim Chowk area of Khuzdar city. Read more… Source: The Express Tribune
- Hamas terrorists lose contact with Gaza leaders, surrender to IDF
December 10, 2023
Dozens of Hamas terrorists lost contact with the terror group’s leadership, leaving them with no option but to lay down their weapons and surrender to Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, Army Radio reported on Sunday morning. After images of stripped terrorists in Jabalya and Khan Yunis circulated on social media, reports emerged that the IDF ...
- Yemen’s Houthis warn they will target all Israel-bound ships in Red Sea
December 9, 2023
Yemen’s Houthi movement says it will target all ships heading to Israel, regardless of their nationality, and warned all international shipping companies against dealing with Israeli ports. “If Gaza does not receive the food and medicines it needs, all ships in the Red Sea bound for Israeli ports, regardless of their nationality, will become a target ...
- Syria: SDF commander killed in IED attack in Deir ez-Zor
December 6, 2023
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Wednesday confirmed that prominent SDF commander Roni Welat (Shervan Hassan) was killed in a ‘terrorist attack’ in Deir ez-Zor on Tuesday. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) also confirmed the commander’s death, reporting that he was killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) at the entrance of Al-Omar ...
- Pakistan: Three children among seven injured in Peshawar blast
December 5, 2023
Seven people, including three school children, sustained injuries, two of them serious, in an explosion on Warsak Road here on Tuesday morning. According to police, the explosive was planted alongside the road near a private bank and a school. Glasses of nearby buildings shattered by the explosion. Rescue teams and security personnel reached the spot within ...
- Iraq: Rocket launcher disguised as fuel truck seen firing 122mm artillery rockets
December 5, 2023
Earlier this week, Iranian-backed militants in Iraq fired 122mm artillery rockets at U.S.-led coalition forces in neighboring Syria using an improvised array of launchers disguised inside a modified tanker truck. “At approximately 2:15 p.m. on Dec. 3, 15 122mm rockets originating in Iraq were fired at the U.S. base Rumalyn Landing Zone in Syria,” according to ...
- Hong Kong police arrest 2 men, seize chemicals capable of producing explosives
December 5, 2023
The two men, 33-year-old Ho Chi-hin and 34-year-old Ng Tsz-kit, appeared at the Eastern Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday after they were arrested on Sunday near Nam Fung Road in Aberdeen. Authorities seized some 30 kg of various types of chemicals, scales, distillation equipment, laboratory apparatus, mobile phones, laptops, and notes on making explosives. Following a preliminary ...
