USA Targeted in Bomb Packages from Yemen
The discovery was made on Friday of two suspicious mail packages containing Hewlett Packard printer toner cartridges packed with explosive materials bound for the United States. The packages were intercepted in stopovers in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom in cargo on board two US-bound planes. The bombs were transported on both passenger and cargo planes before discovery.
The packages originated in Yemen and were delivered for despatch by a female, using a false name, address and phone number, to USP courier services in Hadda Street in Sana’a, the country’s capital. They were addressed for delivery to synagogues in Chicago.
Despite this attempt at subterfuge Yemeni forces searching for suspected al-Qaeda militants behind the ‘packages’ plot have arrested a 20-year-old female student in Sana’a on suspicion of sending the packages.
Authorities on three continents including the U.S. A.are continuing the hunt for any more suspicious packages following the initial interceptions in the UK and the UAE. USA President Barack Obama has warned of a ‘credible terrorist threat’ to the United States following their discovery.
This latest terrorist attempt has led to heightened vigilance in some European countries with arrests in Gothenburg in Sweden in connection with a terrorist bomb threat there. The Swedish police also say they have detained a Turkish man, wanted in Belgium on suspicion of terrorism, at Stockholm’s Arlanda airport on Friday after he arrived on a plane from Syria.
In Manila Philippine police officers announced on Friday five people were arrested and materials used for making explosives were seized following warnings from Western countries of an imminent attack there.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command said in a statement on Friday it had sent two U.S. F-15s to escort the UPS aircraft en route from the UK with the suspicious cargo as it entered U.S. airspace. It was tracked by Canadian planes over Canadian airspace.
