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Putin fires cruise missiles, vows to punish ‘criminals’ who bombed plane
Paul Koring
WASHINGTON — The Globe and Mail
Published Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015 5:19AM EST
Last updated Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015 12:13PM EST
Islamic terrorists at Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh airport secreted a bomb on board the Russia-bound Airbus A321 that blew the tail off the packed charter flight as it climbed over the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people on board, Russian investigators confirmed Tuesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed retribution.
“We will find them anywhere on the planet and punish them,” said Mr. Putin, who two months ago sent Russian warplanes to attack rebel groups in Syria seeking to topple Moscow’s embattled ally President Bashar al-Assad. On Tuesday, in the Kremlin, after confirming the aircraft had been blown up, the Russian president vowed to step up air strikes “in such a way that the criminals understand that retribution is inevitable.”
Also on Tuesday, Mr. Putin ordered the Russian missile cruiser Moskva, currently in the Mediterranean, to start co-operating with the French military on operations in Syria. Mr. Putin said a French aircraft carrier task force is to approach the Moskva soon and the cruiser is to “co-operate with them as with allies.”
Russian warplanes on Tuesday fired cruise missiles on militant positions in Syria’s Idlib and Aleppo provinces, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said, adding bombers hit Islamic State positions in Raqqa and Der-ez-Zor.
Mr. Putin’s promise to intensify the air war follows a similar action by French President Francois Hollande, who sent warplanes into action over the weekend after so-called Islamic State jihadis struck Paris.
Egypt, which for weeks flatly denied a bomb had been secreted aboard the Russian Metrojet flight at its popular Red Sea tourist resort, announced it had detained more than a dozen airport workers after security footage emerged showing two suspects putting a suitcase in the tail of the Airbus that was blown out of the sky 23 minutes after takeoff on Oct. 31.
By blowing up the airliner, Islamic State, the ruthless Sunni group that has carved a nascent Caliphate out of western Iraq and parts of Syria, dramatically extended its violent reach. Jihadis loyal to Islamic State have attacked Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shia group in Lebanon, staged multiple simultaneous attacks in Paris and destroyed the St. Petersburg-bound airliner in the last three weeks.
“We can unequivocally say it was a terrorist act,” said Alexander Bortnikov, the head of Russia’s FSB security service. “A homemade bomb containing up to one kilogram of TNT,” was put on board, he said, adding that explosive traces had been recovered from wreckage and bodies.
In Cairo, the Egyptian government was in full damage-control mode as it struggled to defend its security screening at Sharm el-Sheikh, a vital source of foreign revenue from the millions of mostly European tourists who throng to its low-cost resorts along the Red Sea.
“Seventeen people are being held, two of them are suspected of helping whoever planted the bomb on the plane at Sharm al-Sheikh airport,”a security official told Reuters.
Airport video surveillance footage showed a baggage handler carrying a suitcase from an airport building to another man, who was loading luggage onto the doomed airliner from beneath the plane as it was being loaded, according to the security official.
In the wake of the high-altitude breakup of the Airbus A321, many airlines ceased flights to Sharm al-Sheikh. Russia cancelled all flights after bringing home more than 100,000 tourists.
U.S. and British intelligence agencies said intercepts after the crash appeared to confirm suspicions that a terrorist bomb had blown up the aircraft. A group linked to Islamic State claimed responsibility.
With files from Associated Press
Paul Koring
WASHINGTON — The Globe and Mail
Published Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015 5:19AM EST
Last updated Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015 12:13PM EST
Islamic terrorists at Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh airport secreted a bomb on board the Russia-bound Airbus A321 that blew the tail off the packed charter flight as it climbed over the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people on board, Russian investigators confirmed Tuesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed retribution.
“We will find them anywhere on the planet and punish them,” said Mr. Putin, who two months ago sent Russian warplanes to attack rebel groups in Syria seeking to topple Moscow’s embattled ally President Bashar al-Assad. On Tuesday, in the Kremlin, after confirming the aircraft had been blown up, the Russian president vowed to step up air strikes “in such a way that the criminals understand that retribution is inevitable.”
Also on Tuesday, Mr. Putin ordered the Russian missile cruiser Moskva, currently in the Mediterranean, to start co-operating with the French military on operations in Syria. Mr. Putin said a French aircraft carrier task force is to approach the Moskva soon and the cruiser is to “co-operate with them as with allies.”
Russian warplanes on Tuesday fired cruise missiles on militant positions in Syria’s Idlib and Aleppo provinces, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said, adding bombers hit Islamic State positions in Raqqa and Der-ez-Zor.
Mr. Putin’s promise to intensify the air war follows a similar action by French President Francois Hollande, who sent warplanes into action over the weekend after so-called Islamic State jihadis struck Paris.
Egypt, which for weeks flatly denied a bomb had been secreted aboard the Russian Metrojet flight at its popular Red Sea tourist resort, announced it had detained more than a dozen airport workers after security footage emerged showing two suspects putting a suitcase in the tail of the Airbus that was blown out of the sky 23 minutes after takeoff on Oct. 31.
By blowing up the airliner, Islamic State, the ruthless Sunni group that has carved a nascent Caliphate out of western Iraq and parts of Syria, dramatically extended its violent reach. Jihadis loyal to Islamic State have attacked Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shia group in Lebanon, staged multiple simultaneous attacks in Paris and destroyed the St. Petersburg-bound airliner in the last three weeks.
“We can unequivocally say it was a terrorist act,” said Alexander Bortnikov, the head of Russia’s FSB security service. “A homemade bomb containing up to one kilogram of TNT,” was put on board, he said, adding that explosive traces had been recovered from wreckage and bodies.
In Cairo, the Egyptian government was in full damage-control mode as it struggled to defend its security screening at Sharm el-Sheikh, a vital source of foreign revenue from the millions of mostly European tourists who throng to its low-cost resorts along the Red Sea.
“Seventeen people are being held, two of them are suspected of helping whoever planted the bomb on the plane at Sharm al-Sheikh airport,”a security official told Reuters.
Airport video surveillance footage showed a baggage handler carrying a suitcase from an airport building to another man, who was loading luggage onto the doomed airliner from beneath the plane as it was being loaded, according to the security official.
In the wake of the high-altitude breakup of the Airbus A321, many airlines ceased flights to Sharm al-Sheikh. Russia cancelled all flights after bringing home more than 100,000 tourists.
U.S. and British intelligence agencies said intercepts after the crash appeared to confirm suspicions that a terrorist bomb had blown up the aircraft. A group linked to Islamic State claimed responsibility.
With files from Associated Press
