7 February 2016, 15:55 GMT
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier February, a blast tore a hole in the side of the Airbus A321 plane, belonging to the Dubai-based Daallo Airlines, minutes after it took off from the Mogadishu airport to fly to Djibouti. The blast injured two people, while one of the passengers was reportedly sucked out from the gash in the fuselage.
According to the BBC, citing an emailed statement from the group, the attack was carried out as vengeance for Western intelligence operations in the country.
Al-Shabaab originally planned to target a Turkish Airlines aircraft due to Ankara’s support of the intelligence operations, but the flight was cancelled and most of the passengers were rebooked for the Daallo Airlines plane, the British broadcaster reported.
The group admitted it had failed to bring the plane down, according to the BBC.
As many as 20 people have reportedly been detained by the Somalian government in connection to the attack.
