TSA Beefs Up Cell Phone Checks at Overseas Airports

The Transportation Security Administration will ask U.S.-bound travelers at certain overseas airports to power up their cell phones and mobile devices as a part of enhanced security measures amid new security concerns.

Owners of devices that cannot turn on will not be allowed to bring them onto the plane, the TSA announced in a statement Saturday. The owners may also face additional screening.

The news follows Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson’s instructions for the TSA to step up security at foreign airports with direct flights to the U.S. earlier this week.

It also follows reports from ABC News citing U.S. intelligence analysts that terrorist groups in Syria were developing new kinds of bombs to be brought onto commercial planes.

The Department of Homeland Security is also asking airport authorities in Europe and other locations to increase random screenings of U.S.-bound travelers and more closely scrutinize shoe size, ABC reports.