Russia Confirms Bomb Downed Sinai Jet, Pounds IS as Egypt Says No 'Firm Conclusion' Yet
Russia on Tuesday pounded Islamic States 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 that 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.
Moscow's confirmation of the attack -- the deadliest against a Russian target since the Beslan school massacre by Islamist rebels from the North Caucasus in 2004 -- comes days after a chain of attacks claimed by the Islamic State group killed at least 129 people in Paris.
Putin and French leader Francois Hollande agreed in a phone call to "ensure closer contact and coordination" on Syria between their armies and security services, the Kremlin said, as the Russian strongman ordered his navy to work with French forces in the Mediterranean "as allies."
Russia is backing forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in the fight against what it says are IS and other "terrorist" groups while France is part of a separate U.S.-led coalition targeting IS.
- 'Homemade' bomb -
Russia's security chief Alexander Bortnikov told Putin that traces of explosives of "foreign production" had been found on the plane wreckage and that the jet carrying tourists back from Egypt was brought by a home-made bomb with a force equivalent to one kilo of TNT.
"We can say unequivocally that this was a terrorist attack," Federal Security Service (FSB) head Bortnikov said.
The FSB later said it would pay "$50 million for information helping to arrest the criminals" and Russia's foreign ministry announced it was asking its "overseas partners" to help track down the perpetrators.
A group linked to IS had earlier claimed responsibility for downing the plane, and Russia had halted all flights to Egypt while refusing to initially endorse growing suspicions in Britain and the United States that the plane was blown up.
An Egyptian-led probe has yet to confirm the bombing but the country's interior ministry said it was stepping up airport security across Egypt given "the possibility that it was targeted by a terrorist attack."
"Taking into consideration all possible causes behind the plane crash, including the possibility that it was targeted by a terrorist attack, the Egyptian authorities have enhanced security measures in all airports," said the interior ministry.
The statement came as an Egyptian minister said a probe had yet to reach any final conclusions about the disaster, in remarks shortly after Russia announced a bomb had brought down the aircraft.
"Until now the (investigation) committee has not yet arrived to any results indicating the cause of the crash," Civil Aviation Minister Hossam Kamal told a news conference.
The plane, flown by Russian firm Kogalymavia, came down shortly after take off from resort Sharm el-Sheikh on October 31, killing all 224 people on board in Russia's worst air disaster.
The disaster prompted Britain to restrict flights to the resort, and Moscow to all Egyptian airports while barring the country's national carrier EgyptAir from Russia.
Egypt's interior ministry said on Tuesday that there was a review of screening measures for passengers and luggage, "and enhancement of search procedures for passengers and workers upon entry into the airport."
The ministry added "security sweeps" of airplanes would be conducted as well as "reviews of flight crews' security permits."
It is not known how a bomb would have been smuggled on the doomed plane before it set off from the popular Red Sea resort, but there have been suspicions of an inside job.
The interior ministry said in a separate statement on Tuesday that there have been no arrests at the airport over the incident.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond had said failures in security at Sharm el-Sheikh airport may have enabled the attack.
"You don't need a sophisticated capability to get a small bomb, and that's all you need to bring down an aircraft, a small bomb with a straightforward timer.
"Sadly there are many, many people who can do that. The issue is about getting it air side in an airport that is supposed to be secure," said Hammond.
"Where this points the finger is at the capability of the security on the ground at Sharm el-Sheikh."
The UK-based PGI risk management group said in a report that the disaster had "cast a spotlight on the prospect of an insider threat at airports, which requires an alternative security response."
Security changes could cause airport delays and extra costs, the group said.
"There will likely be some resistance from the aviation industry to knee-jerk measures, for example proposals for passengers to identify their luggage before being loaded onto aircraft," the report said.
"Nonetheless, airports will inevitably feel pressure to adopt tighter security practices due to reputational and competitive disadvantages of perceived non-compliance with new security norms."
Putin did not expressly blame IS for the attack on the passenger jet but pledged to ramp up air strikes in Syria, "so that the criminals understand that vengeance is inevitable."
Moscow on Tuesday for the first time sent its powerful long-range bombers to strike IS targets in the provinces around the jihadist strongholds of Raqa and Deir Ezzor and to fire cruise missiles at Idlib and Aleppo regions.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said 206 "terrorist" targets had been hit in the latest wave of strikes.
France has also ratcheted up its strikes against IS targets around Raqa since the bloody attacks in Paris. Hollande will meet next week with Obama and Putin, as part of broad diplomatic push to end the war in Syria.
Putin has called for a united coalition against IS in Syria and on Monday reiterated that the attacks in France showed it was "indispensable" to join forces against the jihadists.
Source: Agence France Presse
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