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Airline bomb plot is thwarted
A plot similar to previous attempted bombing attacks by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula using a redesigned underwear bomb for use on aircraft was thwarted and no airline was ever at risk, two US counter-terrorism officials said yesterday. “This device has the hallmarks of previous AQAP bombing attempts,” one official said on condition of anonymity. “The plot was disrupted well before it threatened American or US allies and no airlines were ever at risk from this device,” They said the device was a redesigned model of the bomb used by the so-called “underwear bomber”, who failed to blow up an airliner bound for Detroit on Christmas Day in 2009.