Thread: Russian plane crash: Flight 7K9268 crashed in Egypt

CHILLING new details suggest Russian crash killing 224 was NO ACCIDENT

Written by Michelle Jesse, Associate Editor on October 31, 2015

Many of us awoke this morning to the tragic news that a Russian passenger plane carrying 224 passengers, including 17 children, plunged into a fiery crash in Egypt. Traveling from the popular Egyptian holiday resort of Sharm El-Sheikh to the Russian city of St Petersburg, many of the dead are believed to be holiday makers headed home. http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/...ia-Airbus-A321

While initial reports suggested the crash was caused by technical issues, new information suggests it may be the work of ISIS.

Via UK Express: http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/...responsibility

ISLAMIC State militants have claimed responsibility for the downing of a Russian passenger plane which crashed in Egypt killing 224 people, according to a terrorist monitoring group.

Terror Monitor, an online terrorist monitoring organisation, claims to have a statement from Islamic State militants claiming responsibility for the attack.

The group, which watches terrorist groups around the world, tweeted an image of the Arabic statement and wrote: “#IslamicState (#ISIS) terror group claims downing of Russian aircraft in #Sinai.”

The unverified statement, written in Arabic, says the flight crash was NOT a technical fault, as reported by security sources.

The translated statement read: “The fighters of the Islamic State were able to down a Russian plane over Sinai province that was carrying over 220 Russian crusaders.

“They were all killed, thanks be to God.”

News agency AFP has also reported ISIS has claimed responsiblity for the downing of the Russian plane.

According to the agency the statement on social media read: “The soldiers of the caliphate succeeded in bringing down a Russian plane in Sinai.”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on her Facebook page that Russian Embassy personnel in Egypt are working to clarify the situation.

The Russian airliner was reported to have plunged vertically to the ground and then burst into flames, which certainly suggests something went very suddenly wrong. And while Russian officials are cautioning that ISIS’s claims “can’t be considered accurate” yet — as they’re still working on clarification — many of us can’t help but wonder if indeed this is some of the retaliation ISIS promised in response to Russia’s airstrikes against them in Syria.

If indeed ISIS claims are true that it was behind the downing of this Russian passenger jet, it’s yet another signal of the situation in the region continuing to escalate out of control, with consequences extending far beyond those fighting on the ground in Syria. And meanwhile, President Obama’s response is sending 50 Special Forces Operations to “help” in Syria? And our lame stream media is using words like “intensify” to describe Obama’s latest addition to operations there. What. A. Sorry. Joke. Not to diminish in any way the talent of our U.S. Special Forces, but does anyone really think 50 troops “just helping” are going to make a dent now in what seems to be escalating by the day? Col. Allen West, of course, has a few choice things to say about this, which we’ll share with you next.

Meanwhile, Russia has declared tomorrow a day of mourning, and we pray for the innocent souls lost and their families.

http://www.allenbwest.com/2015/10/ch...s-no-accident/

Russian plane A321 crash: This viral video claims ISIS shot down Flight 7K9268
November 01, 2015 3:48 AM



Cairo, Nov 1: The Islamic State terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the crash of a Russian plane on Saturday in Egypt’s Sinai, which killed over 200 people on board, in a statement posted online. The Sinai-based group “Sinai State” that had announced loyalty to the IS said in a statement posted on Twitter its militants managed to target the Russian plane and killed all passengers, Xinhua reported.

It said the attack was in revenge for Russia’s military operations in Syria. A video released by the group showed that a plane was suddenly caught on fire and fell down, but the video cannot be verified for the moment. In the video, an aircraft is shown, which suddenly explodes in the air and crashes down. The visuals aren’t vivid and it hasn’t been confirmed that the plane shown in the video was the Russian Flight 7K9268. (ALSO READ: Russian plane crash: Islamic state claims responsibility for bringing down passenger plane)

However the Egyptian security officials suggested that the plane crashed due to technical fault, the video claims it an attack in revenge for Russia’s military operations in Syria. On Friday Russian air-force had destroyed 1,623 “terrorist targets” in Syria, a strong base of ISIS in a month-old bombing campaign to support forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

All 224 people aboard in the Russian airliner died after the plane crashed in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula on Saturday morning, confirmed the Egyptian government officials. Watch the video below:



http://www.india.com/news/world/russ...7k9268-672655/

Not a missile; new OMINOUS evidence emerges for Russian plane crash

Written by Michele Hickford, Editor-in-Chief on November 2, 2015

http://www.allenbwest.com/2015/11/no...n-plane-crash/

Putin vows payback after Kremlin confirms bomb downed Russian plane over Egypt
Andrew Osborn - 13 hrs ago

President Vladimir Putin vowed to hunt down those responsible for blowing up a Russian airliner over Egypt and intensify air strikes against Islamists in Syria, after the Kremlin concluded a bomb had destroyed the plane last month, killing 224 people.

"We will find them anywhere on the planet and punish them," Putin said at a somber Kremlin meeting broadcast on Tuesday. The FSB security service swiftly announced a $50 million bounty on the bombers.

Until now, Russia had played down assertions from Western countries that the Oct. 31 crash was the work of terrorists, saying it was important to let the official investigation run its course.

But four days after Islamist gunmen and bombers killed at least 129 people in Paris, Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the FSB, told a late night meeting that traces of foreign-made explosive had been found on fragments of the downed plane and on passengers' personal belongings.

"According to an analysis by our specialists, a homemade bomb containing up to 1 kilogram of TNT detonated during the flight, causing the plane to break up in mid air, which explains why parts of the fuselage were spread over such a large distance," said Bortnikov at the meeting in footage released by the Kremlin. "We can unequivocally say it was a terrorist act," he said.

Egyptian authorities have detained two employees of Sharm al-Sheikh airport for questioning in connection with the downing of the Russian jet, two security officials and an airport employee said on Tuesday.

"Seventeen people are being held, two of them are suspected of helping whoever planted the bomb on the plane at Sharm al-Sheikh airport," said one of the security officials who both declined to be named.

The Airbus A321, operated by Metrojet, had been returning Russian holiday makers from Sharm al-Sheikh in Egypt to St Petersburg when it broke up over the Sinai Peninsula, killing all on board. A group affiliated with Islamic State claimed responsibility, but until Tuesday Russia had said terrorism was just one possible scenario.

RETRIBUTION

Putin, wearing a dark suit, presided over a minute of silence in memory of the victims at the Kremlin meeting, before telling security and military chiefs the incident was one of the bloodiest crimes in modern Russian history and ordering the air force to intensify its air strikes in Syria in response.

"Our air force's military work in Syria must not simply be continued," he said. "It must be intensified in such a way that the criminals understand that retribution is inevitable."

Putin said he expected military chiefs to present him with specific proposals on how Russia could ramp up its campaign. His spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters Putin was expected to visit the defense ministry later on Tuesday.

A senior French government source said Russia had already launched air strikes against the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa in northern Syria on Tuesday, a sign, the source said, that Russia was becoming more concerned about the threat posed by IS.

Russia began air strikes in Syria at the end of September. It has always said its main target is Islamic State, but most of its bombs in the past hit territory held by other groups opposed to its ally, President Bashar al-Assad.

Putin, in language reminiscent of how he talked about Chechen militants during a war when he came to power 15 years ago, ordered the secret services to hunt down those responsible.

"We must do this without any statute of limitations and we must find out all their names," he said, invoking Russia's right to self defense under the United Nations charter. "Anyone who tries to help the criminals should know that the consequences for trying to shelter them will lie completely on their shoulders."

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/...d=ansmsnnews11

Egypt plane crash: Russia says jet was bombed in terror attack
Vladimir Putin orders increase in airstrikes on Syria,
Egypt denies reports two Sharm airport employees have been detained
Gwyn Topham and Matthew Weaver in London and Alec Luhn in Moscow
Tuesday 17 November 2015 13.59 EST

A homemade bomb brought down the Metrojet airliner over Egypt’s Sinai desert last month, the Kremlin has said, confirming for the first time that the plane was destroyed by a terrorist act.


The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, vowed to find and punish those responsible and ordered an increase in airstrikes on Syria as “inevitable retribution” for the attack that killed all 224 people on board, mainly returning Russian holidaymakers.

Egypt denied reports that two employees at Sharm el-Sheikh airport had been arrested in connection with the bombing. The final flights clearing British tourists from the Red Sea resort left on Tuesday.

Russia previously distanced itself from the assertions of other countries, including Britain, that a bomb was almost certainly responsible for bringing down the Airbus A321 plane.
Russia’s FSB security service said investigators had concluded from traces of explosives in the wreckage that an improvised bomb had caused the crash.

Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the FSB, said the plane crash was “unequivocally a terrorist act”. Investigators had studied the personal belongings, baggage and debris from the plane wreckage, he said. “According to our experts, a homemade explosive device equivalent to 1kg of TNT went off onboard, which caused the plane to break up in the air, which explains why the fuselage was scattered over such a large territory.”

He said tests showed the explosives had been produced outside Russia, but gave no further details. The FSB said it was offering a $50m (£33m) reward for information leading to the capture of those responsible.

Putin declared: “The tears in our soul and heart will remain with us forever, but this won’t stop us from finding and punishing those guilty. We will search for them wherever they may be hiding. We will find them anywhere on the planet and punish them.”

As Russian warplanes struck Raqqa, the Isis base in Syria, and other targets, Putin said: “It [the air campaign] must be intensified in such a way that the criminals understand that retribution is inevitable.”

Egypt continued to maintain terrorism was yet to be proven. The prime minister, Sherif Ismail, said Egypt would take the Russian findings into consideration, but the civil aviation minister, Hossam Kamel, said investigators had not found any evidence of criminal intent and the international team of experts had not concluded its work.

A statement from the interior ministry said it was strengthening security protocols at airports around Egypt, but no security shortcomings leading up to the Metrojet disaster had been found.

It denied a Reuters report that Egyptian authorities had detained two airport employees at Sharm el-Sheikh, from where the Russian airliner had taken off 23 minutes before it crashed on 31 October.


Egypt’s tourist industry, a critical source of income, has been hit by the decision of countries including Russia and Britain – its biggest tourist markets – to suspend flights to the Red Sea resort. Confirmation that a bomb was smuggled on to the aircraft will probably have a crushing impact.

Britain and the US have made clear that they believe that a bomb caused the tragedy. Last week, Britain’s foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, said there was a “high probability” that a bomb was planted.

An Isis affiliate claimed responsibility but Russian officials expressed scepticism for several days, even when the UK suspended flights to Sharm.

Mounting evidence of a bomb included the sound of an apparent explosion on the recovered flight recorder, a “flash” from the plane picked up by US satellites and reports of intercepted intelligence chatter involving militant groups in Sinai.

Security experts said the confirmation of a bomb would not necessarily have implications for most European flights, but said the news would reinforce concerns about airports beyond Sharm el-Sheikh.

Norman Shanks, professor of aviation security at Coventry University and a former head of security for BAA and Heathrow, said current European standards for screening luggage and for checking staff should prove sufficient. He said other airports, particularly in tourist destinations, did not enforce the same regime on airport staff and sometimes had inferior technology to carry out x-rays on bags.

Shanks said: “If it does prove to be a bomb that was put in the hold, it was probably taken into the airside part of the airport rather than through passengers’ baggage, which then focuses screening on the staff going into restricted areas.”

He said airports globally had similar regulations but, in practice, audits and security processes were inadequate. “Where you have so-called clean aircraft and passengers, everyone and everything from catering, cargo, baggage should have been subject to screening.”

New technology could be needed to screen baggage, which would lead to increased fares for long-haul flights, he said.

According to some reports, passengers could pay staff at Sharm el-Sheikh to bypass security queues. Philip Baum, editor of Aviation Security International, said: “It’s of great concern that people are bypassing security but it’s by no means restricted to just Sharm.

“If this was an insider threat – a baggage handler – that individual could have been working in any airport. If you look at the number of people involved in criminal activity that could open themselves up to terrorist activity, that’s a problem in Europe or the US as much as in the Sinai peninsula. Most airports employ vast numbers of people on low wages where staff turnover rates are very high.”

The last direct flights by UK airlines bringing home British nationals, who are still travelling without luggage, from Sharm el-Sheikh departed on Tuesday. According to the Department for Transport, fewer than 200 British tourists are thought to remain in the Red Sea resort, and they will return to the UK on other airlines and “at their own risk”.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...curity-service

When Russia started bombing extremists in Syria last month, news and intelligence reports suggested its missiles were not trained on the Islamic State—the threat it said it was going after—but instead on rebels fighting against the Assad government, Moscow’s longtime ally.

But that was before a plane fell out of the sky, and civilians were shot and blown up in Paris and Beirut.

After days of hedging, Moscow on Tuesday confirmed that Metrojet Flight 9268 was brought down over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula by an “improvised explosive device,” which detonated soon after takeoff and tore the aircraft apart in midair. In remarks that were televised nationwide, President Vladimir Putin set the tone of his country’s air campaign in Syria moving forward.


“We should pursue them without any statute of limitations and should know all of them by name,” Putin said of the perpetrators of the plane crash. “We will be looking for them wherever they would try to hide. We will find them in any part of the world and punish them.”

The Russian investigation into the crash did not place blame on the Islamic State, whose Sinai branch has claimed responsibility. But on Tuesday, Moscow sharply intensified its air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria.

“A massive airstrike is targeting ISIL sites in Syrian territory,” Russian Defense Minsiter Sergei Shoigu said, using one of the acronyms for the Islamic State. “The number of sorties has been doubled, which makes it possible to deliver powerful pinpoint strikes upon ISIL fighters all throughout the Syrian territory.”

A U.S. Defense Department official told The New York Times the Russian government warned the U.S. it would be carrying out “a significant number of strikes in Raqqa,” the Islamic State’s stronghold in Syria, before the first strikes launched. Putin has ordered Russian naval forces to work with French warships “as allies” in attacking the terrorist organization.

For weeks, Western nations watched with skepticism as Russian strikes targeted areas significantly west of Islamic State strongholds in Syria. As the Institute for the Study of War reported in early October:

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that the airstrikes targeted eight Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) positions in total. The Syrian regime also released statements confirming Russian airstrikes in Homs and Hama, claiming that the airstrikes targeted both ISIS and al-Qaeda affiliated militants, likely referring to Syrian al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra. However, local Syrian sources claim the airstrikes exclusively targeted rebel positions, including the headquarters of Free Syrian Army-affiliated, Western-backed TOW anti-tank missile recipient al-Izza Gathering in the town of Al Latamneh, rather than ISIS-held positions.

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On Tuesday, Putin vowed payback for extremists over the deaths of the 224 people aboard the downed jetliner.

“Our air force’s military work in Syria must not simply be continued,” he said. “It must be intensified in such a way that the criminals understand that retribution is inevitable.”

http://tothedeathmedia.com/breaking-...or-isis-blood/

ISIS releases picture of bomb it says downed Russian plane
November 18, 2015



CAIRO - The Islamic State group has released a photo of the bomb it says was used to bring down a Russian passenger plane in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula last month, killing all 224 people on board.

The picture was published in the latest issue of the extremist group's English-language magazine, with the caption "EXCLUSIVE - Image of the IED used to bring down the Russian airliner."

The picture showed a yellow can of Schweppes Gold soda and what appeared to be other bomb components.

The extremist group, which has a powerful affiliate in the Sinai, had previously claimed to have downed the plane without offering further details.

Russia's FSB security service said Tuesday that a bomb brought down the plane. Most of those onboard were Russian tourists. Egypt says it is still investigating the cause of the crash.

http://www.wbrz.com/news/is-releases...=facebook_WBRZ

Russia Announces Success Of Massive Bombing Campaign Against ISIS
By Amanda Andrade-Rhoades, Wed, November 18, 2015




Though the U.S. and Russia have diplomatically sparred over Russia’s involvement in the battle against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh, in Syria, this hasn’t stopped Russia's onslaught of bombing.

On Nov. 17, Russia sent at least 25 Backfire, Bear and Blackjack bombers to attack ISIS forces,making it one of the heaviest bombing campaigns in modern history, The Daily Beast reported.

“During a massive airstrike [Nov. 17], 14 important ISIL targets were destroyed by 34 air-launched cruise missiles,” Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of Russia’s general staff, said. “The targets destroyed include command posts that were used to coordinate ISIL activities in the provinces of Idlib and Aleppo, munition and supply depots in the northwestern part of Syria.”

Idlib and Aleppo are largely held by U.S.-backed rebels, though Russia warned U.S. officials before the strike was launched, according to the Pentagon. This cooperation stems from an October agreement between the U.S. and Russia to coordinate their attacks against ISIS.



Russia's airstrikes are motivated, in part, by the takedown of Russian Metrojet 9268 in October -- an attack that ISIS took credit for. However, Russia also plans to coordinate its attacks with France, which fell victim to an attack by ISIS on Nov. 13, The New York Times reported.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and France’s President Francois Hollande have spoken on the phone. They plan to meet in Moscow on Nov. 26 to coordinate their military assault on ISIS.
https://www.opposingviews.com/i/poli...mbing-campaign

The Bear Awakens: 355 ISIS Targets Destroyed by Russian Air Force in Last 48 Hours

The United States still refuses to coordinate airstrikes against ISIS with Russia — but it doesn’t even matter at this point: Russia has gone full beast mode. Over the last 48 hours, Russia has destroyed a fleet of 500 ISIS trucks used to smuggle oil out of Syria. But that’s just a fraction of the world of pain that Putin has rained down on them:
355 [targets] were destroyed in the countryside of Aleppo, Idleb, Raqqa and Dir Ezzor during the last 48 hours.

“The Russian air force, in cooperation with the Syrian air force, carried out 186 sorties against ISIS sites in Syria,” Syria news agency reported.

It added 26 command-centers, 35 depots, 28 fortified sites, 3 training



http://www.jewsnews.co.il/2015/11/22...last-48-hours/

Turkey will not apologise for downing Russian fighter jet
Kirill Kudryavtsev - 15 hrs ago

Turkey will not apologise for downing a Russian fighter jet on the Syrian border but Moscow should reconsider retaliatory sanctions, Turkish premier Ahmet Davutoglu said Monday as he held talks at NATO headquarters.


"Protection of our airspace, our border is not only a right but a duty for my government and no Turkish premier or president ... will apologise (for) doing our duty," Davutoglu told a joint press conference with NATO head Jens Stoltenberg.

Davutoglu added that "we hope Russia will reconsider these measures in both our interests", referring to the sanctions that Moscow imposed after the shooting down of the jet last week.

"If the Russian side wants to talk, we are ready; if they want more information, we are ready; if they want to normalise relations, we are ready to talk," he said.

Davutoglu was speaking as the Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin had rejected an invitation to meet his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the Paris global climate conference.

Erdogan had called for face-to-face talks with Putin as Moscow and Ankara trade furious charge and counter-charge over who was responsible for downing the plane.

Ankara said Monday it had returned the body of the pilot to Russia.

NATO chief Stoltenberg said that while Turkey had every right to defend its airspace, the focus now had to be on avoiding any escalation as the allies try to forge a common front -- possibly including Russia -- against Islamic State (IS) jihadist fighters in Syria and Iraq in the wake of the Paris attacks.

"I welcome Turkish efforts to establish contacts with Russia to de-escalate ... it is important to stay calm," Stoltenberg said.

"I urge Russia to play a constructive role in Syria by targeting IS, our common enemy," he added, referring to criticisms by Western nations that Russia has been targeting non-IS opposition forces in Syria.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/...d=ansmsnnews11