ISIS Claims: We Downed Russian Airliner in ‘Sophisticated Attack’

By Aaron Klein. Insiders in the group that represents ISIS in the Gaza Strip claimed to WND Sunday that the global jihadist group will soon release information purporting to show how it helped to bring down the Russian passenger plane that crashed in Egypt, killing all 224 people on board.

Salafist jihadists in the Gaza Strip who operate under the ISIS banner in the territory said the global jihad group was indeed involved in the downing of the aircraft Saturday morning.

They claimed it was not a missile that brought the plane down and that supposed evidence will soon be released by ISIS . . .

According to the Daily Mail, Michael Clarke, director general of the Royal United Services Institute, told British radio he believes the early information indicates the jet could have been destroyed by a bomb on the aircraft.

Clarke told BBC Radio Five Live: “This aircraft was 200km north of its take-off zone, that means it was flying at around 31,000 feet. Terrorists, as far as we know, don’t have equipment to take down an aircraft at that height. (Read more from “ISIS Claims: We Downed Russian Airliner in ‘Sophisticated Attack'” HERE)

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Russian Investigators Arrive in Egypt After Fatal Plane Crash

By Alexander Marquardt, Mustafa Hameed, Patrick Reevell and David Chiu. The bodies of those killed when a plane headed to St. Petersburg crashed shortly after taking off from a resort town in Egypt will begin returning to Russia as investigators try to learn what caused the crash.

Of the 224 people on board the Metrojet Airbus A321-200 when it crashed, 187 bodies have been recovered, prosecutors told Egypt’s state news agency. They were expected to begin arriving in Russia on Sunday evening.

The plane took off from El Salam, Egypt, early Saturday before it disappeared from radar for 23 minutes, according to the Civil Aviation Authority. It crashed in a mountainous region near al-Hassana.

The head of Russia’s Inter-state Aviation Committee, which is investigating the crash, said the plane broke up in midair, scattering pieces for more than 12 miles, Interfax reported.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said the investigation may take months. He said he told Russian President Vladimir Putin that Egypt welcomes foreign cooperation in the investigation as to why the plane crashed. (Read more from “Russian Investigators Arrive in Egypt After Fatal Plane Crash” HERE)

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