NEW DEHI: Home minister
Rajnath Singh, while recalling the 2009 ‘underwear bomber’ who attempted to blow up an Amsterdam-Detroit flight mid-air, said that terrorists are “pushing their limits and underpants” to attack global civil aviation operations.
“The civil aviation sector is highly sensitive and high profile in nature. It also gets worldwide attention when hit by any attack. Often these incidents have geopolitical ramifications,” he said after inaugurating the two-day seminar on international aviation security, which is being attended by aviation security experts from 18 countries.
“The case of the shoe
bomber in 2001, the use of liquid explosives in London in 2006 and the case of the underwear bomber in Amsterdam in 2009, clearly indicate that terrorists are pushing the limits and even their underpants to hit the aviation sector,” Singh said.
The minister also asked aviation security agencies to undertake “perspective planning” to thwart possible threats to aviation facilities.
Security agencies should undertake “untiring and sincere efforts to maintain foolproof security” at airports, he said.
Civil aviation security continues to be a challenging task as the sector remains an important target for terror outfits.
He added it was essential to innovate to meet evolving threats to aviation security. TNN