The US has declared that it will not allow mobiles - especially iPhones or Samsung Galaxies (left) - or laptops and iPads (right) onto US bound planes from Europe, the Middle East and Africa if the devices are not charged. The new measure which is bound to cause chaotic scenes at airports around the globe are part of the US Transportation Security Administration's effort to boost security amid concerns that terrorists are plotting to blow up an airliner.
US officials are concerned that a cellphone, tablet, laptop or other electronic device could be used as a bomb by Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamist Nusra Front, al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria.
The TSA did not disclose which airports would be conducting the additional screening, however it was reported last week that passengers at British airports traveling to the US are facing extra checks on phones.
An official told the BBC that London's Heathrow was among the airports.
US officials singled out smartphones including iPhones made by Apple Inc and Galaxy phones made by Samsung Electronics Co Ltd for extra security checks on U.S.-bound direct flights from Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
US security officials said they fear bombmakers from the Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) have figured out how to turn the phones into explosive devices that can avoid detection.
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