Credit: Ludwig WegmannCC BY-SA 3.0 DESourceSOLVEDListenMogadishu International Airport, Somalia · 1977
In October 1977, four Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine militants hijacked Lufthansa Flight 181 "Landshut" to force the release of Red Army Faction prisoners; the captain was murdered in Aden, and West German GSG 9 commandos stormed the plane in Mogadishu, freeing all 87 passengers and remaining crew.
Credit: CCTV cameraPublic domainSourceUNSOLVEDListenAbdulaziz district, Mogadishu, Somalia · 2021
Ikran Tahlil Farah, a Somali intelligence officer working in cybersecurity for NISA, was abducted near her home in Mogadishu on 26 June 2021 and has not been found. NISA later claimed she was killed by Al Shabaab after being handed over to them, an allegation Al Shabaab denied. Her disappearance triggered political disputes and calls for an independent investigation.
SOLVEDListenVilla Somalia, Mogadishu, Somalia · 2014
On 21 February 2014, nine Al-Shabaab militants attacked Villa Somalia, the Somali presidential palace in Mogadishu, using a suicide car bomb to breach the gate before engaging guards in a shootout; all nine attackers and at least five Somali security personnel were killed.
Credit: IjoCC BY-SA 1.0SourceUNSOLVEDListenBakaara Market, Mogadishu, Somalia · 2024
On 6 February 2024, four bombings struck the Bakaara Market in Mogadishu, Somalia, killing at least ten people and injuring over twenty others; no group has claimed responsibility, though Al-Shabaab is suspected.
Credit: SandMan25CC BY-SA 4.0SourceUNSOLVEDListenTea shop, Daynile District, Mogadishu, Somalia · 2024
An Al-Shabaab improvised explosive device destroyed a busy tea shop in Mogadishu's Daynile District on August 17, 2024, killing 20 people and seriously injuring 10 others.
Jazeera Palace Hotel, Mogadishu, Somalia · 2015
A suicide car bombing struck the Jazeera Palace Hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia on July 26, 2015, killing at least 15 people, including a Chinese security officer guarding the Chinese Embassy. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility.
UNSOLVEDListenHotel Shamo, Mogadishu, Somalia · 2009
A suicide bomber attacked a graduation ceremony at the Hotel Shamo in Mogadishu, Somalia, on 3 December 2009, killing at least 24 people—including three Transitional Federal Government ministers, medical students, doctors, and journalists—and injuring 60 others.
SOLVEDListenAfgooye, Lower Shabelle, Somalia · 2020
A suicide car bombing claimed by al-Shabaab killed four people and injured at least 20 others near Afgooye, Somalia, on 18 January 2020, targeting Turkish road construction contractors and the police officers guarding them.
UNSOLVEDListenJaalle Siyaad Military Academy, Mogadishu, Somalia · 2023
A suicide bomber attacked Somalia's Jaalle Siyaad Military Academy in Mogadishu in July 2023, killing at least 25 soldiers and injuring more than 70, with al-Shabaab claiming responsibility.
UNSOLVEDListenHargeisa, Somaliland / Bosaso, Puntland, Somalia · 2008
On October 29, 2008, six coordinated suicide car bombings struck Hargeisa, Somaliland, and Bosaso, Puntland, killing at least 30 people, including UN staff, in attacks widely attributed to Islamist insurgents.
The files run from 1977 to 2024. The 2010s hold the most, with 5 files. The oldest is Lufthansa Flight 181, from 1977.
By type, the largest groups are kidnapping and abduction cases (2), mass shooting cases (2) and disappearance cases (1).
1 file of the 14 has coverage attached: 4 videos, podcasts and documentaries. The most covered is Lufthansa Flight 181, with 4 items to watch or hear.
Every file is written from cited sources and pinned where it happened, and every person named carries the legal status the record gives them. If you hold information about an unsolved case, contact the investigating agency named in its file rather than posting it publicly. Families and anyone involved can request a correction from any file.
This page updates from the published files, so counts and statuses change the day a record does. Open any file for its timeline, its sources and the coverage worth your time, or play it as a narrated case file.
CCTV footage Ikran Tahlil Fahrer — Credit: CCTV cameraPublic domainSource
Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F051842-0019, "Landshut"-Entführung, Befreiung, Presseerklärung — Credit: Ludwig WegmannCC BY-SA 3.0 DESource
Boston City Hall lit in Somalian Flag after 2017 Mogadishu bombings — Credit: Office of Boston MayorPublic domainSource
Bakaara Market — Credit: IjoCC BY-SA 1.0Source
Daynile District — Credit: SandMan25CC BY-SA 4.0Source
14. By status: 7 unsolved and 7 solved. The count covers published files only and changes as new files clear review.
Lufthansa Flight 181, from 1977. Open the file
Lufthansa Flight 181, with 4 videos, podcasts and documentaries linked from its file. Open the file
It rebuilds hourly from the published files; the newest file change here is dated Jul 16, 2026. A status changes only when the record behind it does.
