Based on intelligence assessments highlighting an increased threat of a bomb being smuggled on board an aircraft bound for the U.S., the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has issued an emergency directive requiring stricter scrutiny of air cargo from 5 majority-Muslim nations. The directive is effective immediately.

The increased security protocols will primarily affect six carriers that depart with US-bound air cargo: EgyptAir, Emirates. Etihad, Qatar, Royal Jordanian, and Saudia Airlines. The TSA’s directive affects seven airports across the five named countries. Approximately 250 flights per week will be affected.

About Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS)

In brief, the ACAS program requires airlines to submit detailed information on all U.S.-bound cargo prior to departure as a means allow Customs and Border Protection to better target and identify shipments that may be high risk and require additional physical screening.

The tougher screening procedures follow a foiled terror plot in Australia last summer, which revealed a senior ISIS commander had shipped partially assembled components of a bomb on a commercial cargo plane from Turkey to Australia, according to Australian law enforcement.

AlertsUSA subscribers are reminded that in October 2010, authorities discovered two U.S.-bound packages from Yemen containing viable bombs capable of bringing down aircraft. Forensic experts said the two bombs were designed to detonate in mid-air over Chicago, and attributed this plot to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).