Airline Passenger Hid Bomb in Laptop, Somali Authorities Say
DOW JONES & COMPANY, INC. 12:55 PM ET 2/8/2016
NAIROBI, Kenya--Somali authorities said Monday the bomb that blew a hole in the fuselage of Djibouti-bound Airbus A321 last week was hidden in a laptop computer and was likely meant to be detonated on a Turkish Airlines flight.
Abdullahi Abdisalam Borle, 55, the passenger identified by authorities as the bomber, was killed in last Tuesday's blast on the Daallo Airlines flight, and two others were injured. The plane returned safely to the Somali capital Mogadishu, and its crew and remaining 74 passengers were evacuated without harm.
Surveillance footage released by Somali officials over the weekend purports to show two men posing as 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 third man walking in the opposite direction.
Government spokesman Abdisalam Aato said Monday the item was a laptop rigged with explosives and its recipient was Mr. Borle.
Mr. Borle was originally ticketed to fly out of Mogadishu on Turkish Airlines, but when the flight was canceled, he and other passengers were re-ticketed on Daallo Airlines, Mr. Aato said.
Turkish Airlines had no immediate comment on the Somali spokesman's statement.
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.
Tuesday's explosion has focused suspicion on al-Shabaab, the Islamist extremist group that is seeking to overthrow the Somali government. Its fighters have attacked military, government and civilian targets both inside Somalia and in neighboring countries. However, there has been no claim of responsibility from al-Shabaab or any other group.
Write to Heidi Vogt at heidi.vogt@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
02-08-161255ET
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