Somali Al-Shabaab Rebel Group Linked to Bid to Blow Up Jetliner

Sunday February 7, 2016

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The militant group al-Shabaab was responsible for the bomb blast on Feb. 2 that forced a Daallo Airlines passenger jet to make an emergency landing at Mogadishu airport, Somalia’s minister of air transport and civil aviation said following an investigation by the East African country’s government.

“After a careful investigation, we found out that al-Shabaab was behind the attack,” Ali Ahmed Jama told reporters Saturday at a news conference in Somalia’s capital. “In fact, such attacks against innocents are typical work of al-Shabaab,” he said, referring to the Islamic militant group linked to al-Qaeda.

Jama said the bomb, which blew a hole in the fuselage of the Airbus A321 jet carrying 74 passengers, was intended to kill as many as possible. One person died in the incident. The plane had been in the air for about 15 minutes, en route to Djibouti, when the incident occurred, according to the airline’s Facebook page.

The investigation was carried out jointly by the Somali intelligence agency and international experts specializing in bomb-related issues, Jama said. Security forces had arrested people in connection with the blast, Jama added, although he declined to say how many.

Representatives of al-Shabaab weren’t available to comment. The group hasn’t claimed responsibility for the incident.

Daallo Airlines, based in Dubai, regularly flies between Mogadishu and cities including Nairobi, Kenya, and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, according to its website.

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