Terrorist Attack Forces Somali Airliner to Land

A suicide bomber blew himself up causing a Daallo Airlines jet that had taken off from Somalia's main airport on Tuesday to make an emergency landing, officials said Sunday, adding that about 20 people had been arrested in connection with the act.

"Additional investigations conducted by Somali and international experts have confirmed the explosion that occurred inside the Daallo Airlines jet was not a technical problem but was a bomb that was intended to destroy the plane and kill all passengers on board," Somali Transport and Aviation Minister Ali Ahmed Jama told reporters in the Somali capital Mogadishu.

Forensic experts said the blast caused a one-meter-sized hole in the side of the airplane through which the suicide bomber was sucked out the Airbus A321 15 minutes after take off.

"The security forces have detained about 20 people suspected of having involved the bomb that exploded inside that plane," the spokesperson added.

The suicide bomber was identified as Abdulahi Abdisalam, investigators said, adding that only two of the more than 70 passengers were slightly wounded.

Terrorist who tried to blow up airplane is the nephew of Somalia's Muslim Brotherhood Foreign Minister https://t.co/qUr2lnguKG

— Adam Kredo (@Kredo0) February 5, 2016

When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.#Somalia #marka

— updiow (@updiow) February 5, 2016

BREAKING: Explosion rocks airplane after it takes off in Somalia. Multiple people hospitalized!

— The Dark News (@TheDarkNews) February 2, 2016

Two injured as explosion forces plane to turn back in Somalia

SOMALIA/AIRPLANE/

— The Peninsula (@PeninsulaQatar) February 2, 2016

#Somalia - a Somali passenger airplane was forced to make an #Emergency landing in #Mogadishu @Stratfor

— IFI Advisory (@IFIadvisory) February 2, 2016

The pilot, a Serb named Vladimir Vodopivec, told a friend that he knew for sure that the blast had been caused by a bomb, the Serbian daily Blic reported.

Investigators said the blast did not cause damage to the aircraft's navigation system, which enabled the pilot to successfully land the plane.

Originally, Somali authorities believed the explosion was caused by a sudden air decompression.

Daallo Airlines operates out of Djibouti, flying to destinations in the Horn of Africa and the Gulf, Al Jazeera reported.

The head of Daallo Airlines Mohamed Ibrahim Yasin Olad told Al Jazeera that the suicide bomber and the 74 passengers were meant to board a Turkish Airlines flight that had been cancelled.

"They were not our passengers. Turkish Airlines cancelled its flight from Mogadishu that morning because their incoming flight from Djibouti could not come to Mogadishu because of what they said was strong wind," Olad said. "They requested we carry the passengers on their behalf to Djibouti where they would continue their journey on a Turkish Airlines flight."

Olad also said the airlines is working on introducing new security measures to avoid similar incidents from happening again.