​​Explosive Passenger, February 2, 2016

A strong contender for the title of “most incompetent terrorist” is Abdullahi Abdisalam Borleh. On February 2, 2016, he boarded a Daallo Airlines Airbus A321. The aircraft was scheduled to fly from Mogadishu, the capital of his native Somalia, to the neighboring country of Djibouti. The 55-year-old terrorist was in a wheelchair, which raised no particular suspicions among passengers or crew. In total, there were 81 people on board.

Twenty minutes after departure, as the aircraft reached an altitude of 14,000 feet (approximately 4,300 meters), an explosion occurred. A large hole was torn in the fuselage, almost directly above the wing. The blast damaged the wing root, the fuel tank, and seats 15F and 16F in the cabin. The crew reacted swiftly and professionally. Flight attendants moved passengers toward the rear of the aircraft. Reporting pressurization issues, the pilots turned around and executed an emergency landing in Mogadishu.

Amazingly, the only fatality was the terrorist himself. The explosion ejected him through the hole in the fuselage. His charred body was later found on the ground by local residents. Two other passengers sustained injuries, but no one else was harmed.

A local terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack. The investigation revealed that the bomb was most likely concealed inside the terrorist’s laptop. Authorities also confirmed that several airport employees were complicit in the plot.

On May 30, 2016, a Somali court sentenced a former airport security officer to life imprisonment for planning the attack and being a member of a terrorist organization. Another accomplice fled and was sentenced to life in absentia. Eight other airport workers - including security staff, police officers, porters, and immigration officials - were convicted of aiding the terrorists and received prison sentences ranging from six months to four years.