Hiiraan Online
Sunday, March 20, 2016
MOGADISHU (HOL) – Somalia’s president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has called for tighter security at the Mogadishu airport to prevent any security threats after the Al-Qaeda linked Al Shabab group bombed a Somali airliner which made an emergency landing with a gaping hole on its side last month.
A suspected suicide bomber detonated a bomb allegedly planted in a laptop inside Daallo airlines on early February which damaged the plane’s fuselage. One person thought to be the bomber died after he sucked out of the plane.
“Tightening the security of the airport will further improve the reputation of the airport and the increase in the flights of the airport.” Mr. Mohamud said after a meeting with the airport’s security officials, ministers, police and intelligence chiefs at the airport Sunday.
Despite Inconsistencies in the Mogadishu airport’s security which is now under a spotlight, Somali government has recently reassured travelers and airliners that the airport’s security was sufficient as security agencies eye ways to increase security prevent further attacks.
The mid-air explosion in Daallo Airlines’ aircraft has sent alarm across the world as security experts warned that the attack showed jihadist group’s desire to add attacks on air transportation into their global jihad catalog.
In October last year, a Russian airliner was brought down by a bomb in Egypt’s Sinai, killing all 224 people on board. The ISIS group claimed it was behind the bombing.