- The Daallo Airlines Flight 159 bombing occurred on February 2, 2016, after takeoff from Mogadishu
- The suicide bomber used a laptop with explosives, creating a one-metre hole in the Airbus A321
- Only the bomber died; the plane made an emergency landing back in Mogadishu
A decade ago, on February 2, 2016, a Somali suicide bomber triggered a blast inside Daallo Airlines Flight 159, heading from Mogadishu to Djibouti. In what was nothing short of a miracle, only the bomber was killed.
The suspected bomber, identified as Abdulahi Abdisalam Borleh, a Somali national, took the laptop computer containing the explosives onto the flight. According to the sources to CNN, the bomber knew exactly where to sit and how to position the device to cause the most damage.
The explosion on the Daallo Airlines flight occurred around 15 minutes after takeoff, while the plane was at approximately 11,000ft (3,350m) and the cabin was not yet fully pressurised, BBC reported.
The blast created a one-metre-sized hole in the side of the Airbus A321, and the bomber was killed, most likely after being propelled out of the plane in the explosion, reported Al Jazeera. The plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Mogadishu.
Somalia-based group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack, stating it was targeting Western officials and Turkish NATO forces.
In an emailed statement, the group said, "Harakat al-Shabaab al Mujahideen carried out the bombing as a retribution for the crimes committed by the coalition of Western crusaders and their intelligence agencies against the Muslims of Somalia."
The head of Daallo Airlines, Mohamed Ibrahim Yassin Olad, revealed that the bomber was originally meant to board a Turkish Airlines flight, which was cancelled. According to Olad, the 74 passengers on the flight were originally checked in with Turkish Airlines, which travels to Somalia three times per week.
“They were not our passengers. Turkish Airlines cancelled its flight from Mogadishu that morning because the incoming flight from Djibouti could not come to Mogadishu because of what they said was strong wind. They requested we carry the passengers on their behalf to Djibouti, where they would continue their journey on a Turkish Airlines flight," he added.
In May 2016, a Somalian military court sentenced two men to life in jail for planning the bomb attack. As per a BBC report, eight other people, including a woman, received prison sentences ranging from six months to four years.
