US intelligence sources have said that they suspect that a bomb was the cause of an explosion on a Somali airlines plane earlier this week . In addition , investigators also suspect that Islamist extremist group , Al - Shabaab , which has links to al - Qaida , was responsible for the apparent explosion . An explosion occurred onboard an airline operated by Daallo Airlines on 2 march . One person died in the attack , which forced the airline to return to the Somali capital , Mogadishu . Al - Qaeda made no immediate comment on the allegations . The group has been active in Somalia since 2006 , and has launched several large - scale attacks on neighbouring countries .
US government sources have said that they suspect that a bomb was the cause of an explosion on a Somali passenger plane earlier this week. In addition, investigators also suspect that Islamist extremist group, Al-Shabaab, which has links to al-Qaida, was responsible for the apparent attack. An explosion occurred onboard an airline operated by Daallo Airlines on 2 February. One person died in the attack, which forced the airline to return to the Somali capital, Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab made no immediate comment on the allegations. The group has been active in Somalia since 2006, and has launched several large-scale attacks on neighbouring Kenya.