Turkish Airlines Was Likely Original Target of Bomber, Somalia Says

Abdullahi Abdisalam Borle, 55, the passenger identified by Somali officials as the bomber, was killed in the Feb. 2 blast on the Daallo Airlines flight. Two other passengers were injured.

Mr. Borle was originally ticketed to fly out of Mogadishu on Turkish Airlines, but when the flight was canceled he and other passengers were reticketed on Daallo Airlines, Somali government spokesman Abdisalam Aato said Monday.

Somali authorities also confirmed Monday the bomb that blew a hole in the fuselage of a Djibouti-bound Airbus A321 last week was hidden in a laptop computer.

Surveillance footage released by Somali officials over the weekend purportedly shows two men who appear to be airport employees walking together through the airport terminal in Mogadishu. One of the men takes an item from under his arm and passes it to a third man walking in the opposite direction.

Mr. Aato said the item was a laptop rigged with explosives and its recipient was Mr. Borle.

Turkish Airlines confirmed in a statement that its “relevant flights [were] cancelled due to operational reasons required in the framework of bad weather conditions” but declined to comment further.

Mr. Aato said the investigation into the bombing was continuing. More than 20 people have been arrested in connection with the investigation, including the two men on the video. Those men weren’t actual airport employees but impostors, he said.

“The suspects are cooperating, and we’re getting good information. We’re going to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible,” Mr. Aato said.

The Daallo Airlines flight departed Mogadishu late, a person close to the investigation said. Had the flight departed on schedule, a bomb set to a timer would have detonated at a higher altitude, causing more catastrophic damage, perhaps even bringing down the plane explosives experts said.

Mr. Aato said he couldn’t confirm earlier reports that Mr. Borle used a wheelchair at the airport. The surveillance footage disclosed over the weekend shows him walking unassisted.

Since last week’s attack, security at Mogadishu’s airport had been “stepped up,” Mr. Aato said.

No group has claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s explosion but it has focused suspicion on al-Shabaab, an Islamist extremist group that is seeking to overthrow the Somali government. Its fighters have hit military, government and civilian targets both in Somalia and in neighboring countries.

Al-Shabaab has vowed to attack countries assisting the Somali government in the fight against the insurgent group.

Turkish media reported earlier this month that Ankara was setting up a new base in Somalia to train African forces for the fight against groups such as al-Shabaab. Turkey also recently paid for the construction of a new police station at Mogadishu’s airport.

Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for carrying out a car bomb attack that killed two people outside a Mogadishu hotel where Turkish business leaders were preparing for the arrival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Two months ago, Turkish police issued a nationwide alert about a possible attack by Al Shabaab.

Al-Shabaab leaders have denounced Turkey for working with “Christian” nations as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

source: The wall street journal