Daallo Airlines flies regularly from its base in Dubai to Somalia and Djibouti.
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A hole is photographed in a plane operated by Daallo Airlines as it sits on the runway after an emergency landing at the airport in Mogadishu, Somalia Tuesday Feb. 2, 2016.
The explosion happened about 15 minutes after the plane, with 74 passengers on board, took off from the airport and was at 11,000 feet ascending toward 30,000 feet.
A passenger believed to be the bomber, identified as Abdulahi Abdisalam, was killed, probably after being propelled out of the aircraft in the explosion, investigators said.
Two other men – one of whom is wearing a security jacket – hand the computer to suspected bomber, the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) said.
The suspected suicide bomber who blew himself up aboard a Somali airliner on a flight from Mogadishu to Djibouti was meant to board a Turkish Airlines flight, the head of Daallo Airlines said.
The bomb contained a military grade of the explosive TNT, according to the source, citing an initial analysis of residue recovered from the aircraft.
“At least 20 people, including the two men in the CCTV footage who handed over the laptop to the suspected bomber, were arrested in connection with the explosion in the aircraft”, said Aato.
“If we were higher, the whole plane could have disintegrated after the explosion”, said the pilot, Vlatko Vodopivec.
“Amazingly, the airplane remained airborne and returned to the airport”.
In a video made public on Sunday by officials, one airport worker takes the laptop and hands it to another employee.
The government said it would tighten security at the airport facilities across the countries.
“You know the region is a region which is under turmoil … so you can expect such things to happen”, he said. “It would have been much worse if we were higher”, he added.
Before admitting to the Kenya quarry attack, Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the July 2010 suicide bombings in Kampala, Uganda, that killed more than 70 people, including a US citizen, who had gathered at different locations to watch the broadcast of the World Cup final soccer match.
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While the Shebab has been East Africa’s longtime Al-Qaeda-affiliate, some factions past year reportedly split to pledge their allegiance to the Islamic State group.
