Police in Mogadishu have revealed that a Somali man tried to bring a chemical bomb onto an airliner back in November.

The man was carrying chemicals similar to the ones used by the Nigerian bomber on Christmas day. He was caught at Mogadishu airport when he tried to board a Daallo Airlines flight from Mogadishu to Hargeisa, continuing on to Djibouti and Dubai.

Most of Somalia is controlled by various militias, including several that follow fundamentalist Islam. The government controls only part of the capital of Mogadishu and the airport. It's nice to see that while they don't have much control over their country, they can still enforce some law in their own turf.

No motive has been given, but it may be significant that Hargeisa, the plane's first destination, is the capital of the Republic of Somaliland, a breakaway republic in the north of former Somalia. No country recognizes this nation, but it has been able to establish the rule of government in its corner of the Horn of Africa.

It is unclear why the incident wasn't reported for more than a month.

Filed under: Africa, Somalia