Kathmandu airport alert after terror plot in Britain

Scarred by the memory of an airport hijack six years ago, Nepal's only airport in capital city Kathmandu tightened security measures after the alarm worldwide following the unravelling of a terrorist plot in Britain to blow up aircraft in mid-air.

The Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal's only international airport, has banned passengers from carrying any liquids in their hand baggage, following in the footsteps of London's Heathrow Airport that barred all liquids except baby formula after the discovery of a plot to blast US-bound aircraft using explosives disguised in liquids.

The Security Coordination Committee banned passengers from carrying aerosols, gels, toiletries, liquid soap, mouthwash, shaving cream, toothpaste, perfume, cologne and other forms of liquid in their hand baggage.

Liquors bought by passengers at the airport's duty free shop as well as baby formula would be inspected before they are allowed abroad, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said.

On Friday, for the first time in the history of the airport, an emergency safety drill was held, complete with the procedure for evacuating seriously wounded passengers.

International airlines fly to 15 destinations in 12 countries from Kathmandu and the number of passengers is at the peak from summer to October.

Besides the present terrorism threat, Nepal is also haunted by the hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight from the airport in 1999.

Engineered by Pakistan's intelligence service, ISI and Islamic terrorist group Harkat-ul-Ansar, the aircraft was flown to Kandahar in Afghanistan and released only after the Indian government freed three terrorists.

Out of the 160 passengers, one was killed by the hijackers. Since the incident, Indian Airlines began subjecting passengers to an additional security check by its own officials.

(IANS)

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