The ban announced Tuesday by the U.S. and Britain on certain electronics being carried aboard some flights from the Mideast and Africa resulted from intelligence that al-Qaida was developing ways to hide explosives in battery compartments, U.S. officials said.
Intelligence "indicates terrorist groups continue to target commercial aviation" by "smuggling explosive devices in various consumer items," the officials told CNN.
The data indicated that al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula was working to plant explosives in batteries or their compartments in laptops and other commercial devices, according to the officials.
The ban affects devices larger than cellphones and requires airlines based in the Middle East and North Africa to bar travelers from eight countries from bringing larger devices aboard aircraft.
Those electronics would instead be stored in cargo areas.
The U.S. restriction affects more than 50 daily flights from 10 airports in majority-Muslim countries, including such major hubs such as Istanbul and Dubai, the officials said.
The nine airlines affected have 96 hours to comply with the order, CNN reports.
In Britain, the ban involves six countries, including Tunisia and Lebanon, which are not U.S. list.
"There's no question this is the right move," Republican Rep. John Katko of New York told CNN. He had been briefed on the restriction.
Katko said the ban was based on credible new and existing intelligence. The list of airports covered was based on the intelligence community's assessment of the information, he told the cable network.
Here are the 10 global airports covered by the U.S. ban: Cairo, Egypt; Dubai and Abu Dhabi, UAE; Istanbul, Turkey; Doha, Qatar; Amman, Jordan; Kuwait City; Casablanca, Morocco; and Jeddah and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The airlines affected are Egyptair, Emirates Airlines, Etihad Airways, Kuwait Airways, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines and Turkish Airlines.