A blast that punched a hole in the fuselage of a plane this week was caused by a bomb meant to kill everyone on board, Somalia's minister for transport and aviation said on Saturday.

One passenger died and two were injured in the explosion on the Airbus A321, operated by Somali company Daallo Airlines. It was forced to make an emergency landing at Mogadishu airport on Tuesday.

United States investigators believe the attack was carried out by Somali Islamist militant group al Shabaab, but there has been no comment from the organisation.

"We have confirmed that it was a bomb that exploded in the Daallo Airlines flight. It was meant to kill all aboard," the minister, Ali Ahmed Jamac, told a news conference.

He said authorities were pursuing suspects, without going into further detail. – Reuters