A Decade After the Daallo Airlines Bombing: The Attack That Nearly Brought Down Flight 159

Mogadishu: On February 2, 2016, Daallo Airlines Flight 159, en route from Mogadishu to Djibouti, was struck by a suicide bombing shortly after takeoff—an attack that, by all accounts, could have ended in catastrophe. In what aviation and security experts later described as a near-miracle, the only fatality was the attacker himself.

The suspected bomber was identified as Abdulahi Abdisalam Borleh, a Somali national. Investigators later revealed that Borleh had carried the explosive device concealed inside a laptop computer onto the aircraft. According to sources cited by CNN, he appeared to know precisely where to sit and how to position the device to maximise the blast’s impact.

The explosion occurred approximately 15 minutes after takeoff, when the Airbus A321 was flying at around 11,000 feet (3,350 metres). At that altitude, the cabin had not yet been fully pressurised—a factor that likely prevented a far more devastating outcome, according to the BBC.

The blast tore a hole roughly one metre wide in the aircraft’s fuselage. The attacker was killed instantly, and is believed to have been blown out of the aircraft by the force of the explosion, Al Jazeera reported. Despite the severe damage, the pilots managed to retain control of the plane and carry out an emergency landing back in Mogadishu. All remaining passengers and crew survived.

Somalia-based militant group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that it had targeted Western officials and Turkish NATO forces. In an emailed statement, the group said:
“Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen carried out the bombing as retribution for the crimes committed by the coalition of Western crusaders and their intelligence agencies against the Muslims of Somalia.”

Further details later emerged regarding the circumstances that allowed the attacker onto the Daallo flight. Mohamed Ibrahim Yassin Olad, the head of Daallo Airlines, disclosed that the bomber had originally been scheduled to travel on a Turkish Airlines flight, which was cancelled that morning.

“They were not our passengers,” Olad said. “Turkish Airlines cancelled its flight from Mogadishu because the incoming flight from Djibouti could not land due to strong winds. They requested that we carry the passengers to Djibouti on their behalf, where they would continue their journey on a Turkish Airlines flight.”

In May 2016, a Somali military court sentenced two men to life imprisonment for their roles in planning the attack. According to the BBC, eight additional individuals—including a woman—received prison sentences ranging from six months to four years for their involvement.