US anti-terror training abroad includes K-9, cyber security

A US counterterrorism official says dogs sniffing for explosives will be deployed soon to inspect laptops and mobile phones of passengers flying to the United States from Jordan, Egypt and Morocco.

The additional checks will be handled in Jordan by a U.S.-trained K-9 unit part of the State Department's expanding Anti-Terrorism Assistance (ATA) program.

The agency spends $300 million a year to train and equip law enforcement departments of partner nations, in exchange for improved security for U.S. interests abroad.

Agency chief Paul Davies told The Associated Press late Tuesday that such training helped disrupt several terror plots in Jordan.

Jordan has upgraded its fight against militants with an emergency call center, surveillance cameras and databases for DNA, ballistics and fingerprints. US trainers will now teach cyber security.