Russia plane crash: 'Terror act' downed A321 over Egypt's Sinai
Russia's security chief says an act of terror brought down
the Russian A321 airliner in Egypt
last month, killing all 224 people on board.
"Traces
of foreign explosives" were found on debris from the Airbus plane, FSB
chief Alexander Bortnikov told Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Mr
Putin vowed to "find and punish" those behind the attack over the Sinai peninsula. A branch of so-called Islamic State said
it downed the plane.
Nearly
all the dead were Russians.
Mr
Bortnikov said a bomb had been planted on board the Metrojet plane, equivalent
to up to 1kg of TNT. The
Kremlin website carried a transcript of the meeting.
The
bomb shattered the plane mid-air on 31 October, he said, "which explains
the wide dispersal of fuselage pieces".
Mr
Putin said that Russia
must hunt those responsible "indefinitely, find out who the individuals
were".
"We'll
look for them everywhere, wherever they are hiding. We'll find them in any
corner of the planet and punish them."
Russia has offered a $50m (£33m) reward for information on
the Sinai plane attackers.
Sinai Province, a branch of Islamic
State (IS), said in a statement on 31 October that it had destroyed the plane
because of Russian air strikes in Syria.
IS
also said it was responsible for the multiple shootings and bombings in Paris on Friday night
which killed 129 people and wounded hundreds more.
Heavier
Russian raids
Most
of the A321 passengers were Russian tourists flying home from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Metrojet
is the brand name of Kogalymavia, an airline based in western Siberia.
Mr
Putin said that Russia's air
strikes in Syria
"must not only be continued - they must be intensified so that the
criminals understand that retribution is inevitable".
Russian
warplanes are supporting Syrian government forces against various rebel groups,
including IS and other Islamists.
Russia's military commanders were also at the meeting with
Mr Putin and the Federal Security Service (FSB) chief.
Egypt president under pressure - BBC's Orla Guerin in Cairo: The
Russian statement that a bomb ripped apart the plane will surprise few, but it
will be deeply damaging to Egypt's
image, its tourist industry and its president, Abdul Fattah al-Sisi. The
former army chief sold himself to the nation, and the world, as a leader who
could bring order after chaos. Instead,
a virulent branch of Islamic State has been able to take root on his own
doorstep, in the Sinai peninsula - in spite of
a major military offensive.
Even
after the crash, in a BBC interview, President Sisi claimed - implausibly - to
have "full control" over Sinai. Instead, attackers were able to
slaughter more than 200 Russian tourists.
The
last thing a Middle Eastern strongman can afford is to look weak. But the
wreckage of Flight 9268 is proof of President Sisi's vulnerability, and of the
growing strength and reach of Islamist extremists in the Arab world's most
populous nation.
Mr
Putin was speaking after separate meetings at the G20 summit in Turkey, with US
President Barack Obama on Sunday, and UK Prime Minister David Cameron on
Monday.
The
Syrian conflict was the focus of their talks. Mr Cameron pressed Mr Putin to
direct air strikes against IS, and not at moderate rebel groups fighting
President Bashar al-Assad's troops.
Commenting
later on the G20 talks, Mr Cameron said everybody recognised the need for
compromise and Russian opinion was changing.
"I
think there are some signs, some signs, that they are focusing more on Isil
(IS) but we need to see that continued," the prime minister said.
The
Sinai Province militants have operated in
northern Sinai for two years, attacking Egyptian security forces, hundreds of
whom have died in the violence.
Bloodiest attacks in 2015 linked to 'Islamic State'
13 Nov - Paris,
France Gunmen
and suicide bombers kill
at least 129 people.
12 Nov - Beirut,
Lebanon Suicide
bombers kill at
least 43 people.
31 Oct - Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt Plane crashes killing all 224 on
board. Russia
says a bomb caused the crash and an IS affiliate says it was responsible.
10 Oct - Ankara,
Turkey Suicide
bombers kill 102
people at peace rally. Turkey
blames IS, but no group claims the attack.
20 Jul - Suruc,
Turkey Suicide
bomber kills 33
people.
26 Jun - Sousse,
Tunisia Gunman kills 38 people,
mostly British tourists.
26 Jun - Kuwait
City, Kuwait
Suicide attack kills
at least 27 people.
22 May - Qatif,
Saudi Arabia Two
suicide bombs kill
at least 21 people.
21 Mar - Sanaa,
Yemen Suicide
bombings kill at
least 137 people.
18 Mar - Tunis,
Tunisia Gunmen kill 19 people,
mostly foreign tourists.
Background
ISIS: A bunch of terrorists; wolves in the hide of sheeps, and a creation of the Israeli MOSSA and the American CIA
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