Crash over Sinai: Russia confirms bomb brought down Egypt plane

Putin pledges to hunt down and ‘punish’ those behind the attack

MOSCOW: Russia on Tuesday pounded Islamic State (IS) targets in Syria after confirming that a bomb attack brought down its passenger jet over Egypt last month, killing all 224 people on board.

President Vladimir Putin pledged to hunt down and ‘punish’ those behind the attack but did not blame any specific group as he ordered an intensification of Moscow's campaign in Syria, vowing ‘vengeance’.



Russia's security agency announced a $50-million (47 million-euro) reward for information leading to the capture of those behind the attack but Egypt said investigators had yet to reach their conclusion about what brought down the Airbus jet.

Cairo said it was enhancing security in airports around the country over the possibility that the Russian plane that crashed in the Sinai peninsula shortly after leaving Sharm el-Sheikh resort on October 31 might have been destroyed by a bomb.

"It is not the first time that Russia confronts barbaric terrorist crimes," Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a meeting with his security chiefs.

"The murder of our people in Sinai is among the bloodiest crimes in terms of victims," he said in comments released Tuesday, vowing to hunt down those responsible.

"We will search for them anywhere they might hide. We will find them in any part of the world and punish them," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 18^th, 2015.