Story highlights Nine airlines have 96 hours to implement rules on the electrical devices

The bans involve some of the widest-reaching aviation security measures since 9/11

Washington (CNN) Intelligence obtained in recent weeks found that an al Qaeda affiliate was perfecting techniques for hiding explosives in batteries and battery compartments of electronic devices, according to a US official.

The discovery that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was looking to exploit batteries and their compartments in laptops and other commercial electronic devices led the United States and United Kingdom to ban devices larger than a cellphone from certain flights, the US official told CNN.

A US official told CNN that intelligence shows growing capability from ISIS, al Qaeda in Syria and al Shabaab as well AQAP.

It is not fully clear to what extent these groups are sharing specific information, but "there is a growing pool of intelligence all pointing to threats to aviation" the official said.

However, the officials said that ISIS is believed not to be as advanced in perfecting techniques for hiding explosives in electronics as AQAP.

Read More