Suicide bomber on Somalia plane was Turkish Airlines passenger

The CEO of Daallo Airlines said most of the passengers who were on the bombed flight were scheduled to fly with Turkish Airlines, but were ferried to Djibouti by one of his planes after the Turkish carrier cancelled its flight

A hole is photographed from inside the Daallo Airlines plane that was forced to make an emergency landing at the airport in Mogadishu, Somalia on February 2, 2016 after a blast set off by a suspected suicide bomber ripped a hole in the fuselage. Awale Kullane / APShow less

Nairobi // A suspected suicide bomber who blew a hole in the fuselage of a Daallo Airlines plane and forced it to make an emergency landing in Mogadishu last week was meant to be on a Turkish Airlines flight, the Daallo chief executive said on Monday.

The February 2 blast ripped a hole in the fuselage of the Daallo Airlines plane shortly after it took off from Somalia’s main airport, killing the suspected bomber and forcing an emergency landing.

The bomber was sucked out of the plane through the one-metre wide hole when the blast ripped open the pressurised cabin in mid-air, officials said. The pilot landed the plane in the Somali capital, from where it had taken off. Two of the 74 passengers were slightly injured.

No group has so far taken responsibility for the attack but a US government source said Washington suspects Islamist group Al Shabab, which is aligned to Al Qaeda, was responsible for the attack.

Mohamed Yassin, Daallo Airlines chief executive, said most of the passengers who were on the bombed flight were scheduled to fly with Turkish Airlines, but were ferried to Djibouti by one of his planes after the Turkish carrier cancelled its flight, citing bad weather.

“That particular passenger [who was behind the blast] boarded the aircraft on a Turkish Airlines boarding pass and was on the list for the Turkish Airlines manifest,” Mr Yassin said from Dubai where Daallo Airlines is based.

He said Daallo picked up the 70 stranded Turkish Airlines passengers – including the suicide bomber – to fly them to Djibouti.

Turkish Airlines did not respond to a request for comment.

Somali officials said an investigation had been launched and at least 15 people have been arrested, including airport workers.

CCTV footage released by the Somali National Intelligence Agency (Nisa) appears to show two airport workers inside the terminal handing the suicide bomber a lap top stuffed with explosives, according to the government spokesman.

“Some of the people that we have arrested are co-operating,” spokesman Abdisalam Aato said. He said security at the airport has been stepped up and that the government was seeking new technologies to improve screenings.

Al Shabaab, which wants to topple the government and impose a harsh version of Islamic law, has targeted the airport in the past. It has also attacked the Turkish embassy in Mogadishu.

Mr Yassin said Daallo has been reassured by Somali officials that security was being improved, and will keep flying to Somalia.

“We have been there for 25 years,” he said. “Our efforts to keep Somalia linked to the rest of the world will continue.”

Somalia, mired in conflict since civil war broke out in 1991, has few air links outside East Africa.

In 2012, Turkish Airlines became the first major international commercial airline to fly out of Somalia in more than two decades.

Turkey is also a major donor to and investor in Somalia and their relations date back centuries. While Al Shabab has been East Africa’s longtime Al Qaeda-affiliate, some factions last year reportedly split to pledge their allegiance to ISIL.

Turkey has blamed ISIL militants for a string of suicide bombings in major cities. In January, 10 German tourists were killed in an attack in Istanbul, while more than 100 lost their lives in October in the capital Ankara in the deadliest attack in Turkey’s modern history.

* Reuters and Agence France-Presse