Man held for attempted terror attack on plane in Afghanistan

He broke the inner side of the window and tried to open the emergency exit of the plane by kicking it, Khan said,adding that a knife had been confiscated from the man before he boarded.

Khan said the incident appeared to be an attempted terrorist attack.

Security guards on the plane arrested the man,who was later handed over to intelligence agents for further questioning at the airport in the southern city of Kandahar,he said.

A member of the flight crew said the man had told security guards he had intended to get a knife aboard the plane.

Security guards who travel with us arrested him,handcuffed him and took him to the back of the plane, the crew member said.

They asked him what he was intending to do. He said If Id had my knife,I would have taught you all a lesson, he said,quoting the arrested man.

The man had also said he was fed up with my life,the crew member said.

If confirmed as an attempted terror attack,it would be the first such incident in Afghanistan since the September 11,2001 attacks. Khan said initial investigations showed the man was at least not mad or mentally ill.

Investigations were ongoing,he said,adding: From what we saw he was doing,it was more like an attempted terrorist attack.