President Barack Obama on Monday promised to track down all those behind an attempt to bring down a US airliner on Christmas Day, ending three days of silence on the attack.

Mr Obama told Americans his administration was doing all it could to ensure security after a Nigerian man managed to smuggle explosives onto a Detroit-bound flight, an incident that was a “serious reminder of the dangers that we face and the nature of those who threaten our homeland”.

He said: “Had the suspect succeeded in bringing down that plane, it could have killed nearly 300 passengers and crew, innocent civilians preparing to celebrate the holidays with their families and friends.” Mr Obama, who broke from his holiday in Hawaii to make the statement, sought to reassure Americans, telling them he had ordered his staff to “keep up the pressure on those who would attack our country” rather than reacting defensively.

“We will continue to use every element of our national power to disrupt, to dismantle and defeat the violent extremists who threaten us, whether they are from Afghanistan or Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia, or anywhere where they are plotting attacks against the US homeland.”

He promised: “We will not rest until we find all who were involved and hold them accountable.”

Mr Obama said he had ordered two separate reviews as a result of the bomb attempt. The first involved the US watch list system. “Apparently, the suspect in the Christmas incident was in this system, but not on a watch list such as the so-called No-Fly List.”

The second review would “examine all screening policies, technologies and procedures related to air travel” because “we need to determine just how the suspect was able to bring dangerous explosives aboard an aircraft“.

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