US bans large electronics on flights, affecting Middle East

Another travel ban went into effect overnight, this time it affects all passengers traveling to the United States from 10 Middle Eastern airports.

Any nonmedical electronic devices, bigger than a cell phone, like laptops, iPads and cameras now have to be packed in checked baggage for passengers coming to the United States from Muslim majority countries.

This morning, theTSA announced the indefinite ban to nine global airlines to prepare passengers.

The countries listed in the ban are Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.

Former Homeland Security Counterterrorism official Matt Olson said the ban most likely has to do with information about a planned attack.

“What’s likely happened is that the government, the US government has developed some intelligence that a group or individual has developed some type of device that they can get on to an airplane using a lap top or some other electronic appliance,” said Olson.

Many global airlines have posted U.S. travel alerts on their websites.

Qatar Airways’ alert said they have made “special arrangements to assist passengers in securing their devices in the aircraft’s baggage hold.”