Puntland state in northeastern Somalia has announced it banned the weapons from its main airports due to high security threat by the Al Qaeda-linked militant group Al shabaab.
Gen Abdirisack Shire Farah Erig, the police boss of Puntland state only the region’s top leaders including Abdiweli Gaas, his deputy and parliament speaker are allowed to enter the airports with their security guards.
The police chief said the ban is aimed to bolster the security of the airports and prevent possible attacks by Al shabaab militants who battling Puntland troops in the region.
In February, a laptop bomb blast shook Daallo Airlines Flight D3159 five minutes after take-off from Mogadishu, Somalia, and tore a hole in the jet’s fuselage.
Al shabaab claimed responsibility for the bomb attack on the Daallo airlines plane.
