--- description: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi acknowledged that terrorists were indeed responsible for the crash of a Russian jetliner. title: Egypt Concedes That Terrorists Caused Sinai Airliner Crash image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4eb11b7f00574cb6/69887f1a196cf49edc03a7e0/ap_216478057277.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Egypt](/tag/egypt/) ## Egypt Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Egypt Concedes That Terrorists Caused Sinai Plane Crash by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 25, 2016 8:38 AM CUT  Debris of a Russian airplane is seen at the site a day after the passenger jet bound for St. Petersburg, Russia, crashed in Hassana, Egypt. Debris of a Russian airplane is seen at the site a day after the passenger jet bound for St. Petersburg, Russia, crashed in Hassana, Egypt.AP—AP by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 25, 2016 8:38 AM CUT Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi [acknowledged ](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/25/world/middleeast/in-reversal-egypt-says-terrorists-downed-russian-jet-o.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined")Wednesday that terrorists were indeed responsible for the crash of a Russian airliner in the Sinai Peninsula in October, which killed all 224 people onboard. Metrojet Flight 7K9268 — an Airbus A321-200 en route to St. Petersburg — disintegrated in midair less than a half an hour after leaving the airport in the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh on Oct. 31\. Within hours, members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria’s (ISIS) affiliate group in Egypt publicly took responsibility for the attack, saying it had concealed a bomb in a soda can, the New York _Times_ reported. In the months afterward, Egyptian authorities were [reluctant](http://time.com/4147402/egypt-plane-crash-russia/ "undefined") to blame terrorism for the crash, even as Russia and Western authorities concluded that a bomb had downed the plane. On Wednesday, however, Sisi delivered a national address on Egypt’s development prospects, in which he made a pointed reference to “those who downed the flight.” ### See Photos From the Russian Plane Crash and Its Aftermath  An Egyptian soldier stands guard as emergency workers unload bodies of victims from the crash of a Russian aircraft over the Sinai peninsula from a police helicopter to ambulances at the military airport in Kabrit, Egypt, on Oct. 31, 2015 Amr Nabil—AP  Debris from crashed Russian jet lies strewn across the sand at the site of the crash in the Sinai region in Egypt on Oct. 31, 2015. EPA  Wreckage at the site where a Russian aircraft crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula near El Arish city, on Nov. 1, 2015. Maxim Grigoryev—ITAR-TASS/Corbis  Ambulances transporting the bodies of the victims of the Russian passenger flight crash arrive at the Zeinhom morgue in Cairo on Oct. 31, 2015. Mohammed Hossam—EPA  People arrange candles to make a cross to commemorate 224 victims of a Russian airliner which crashed in Egypt, on the stairs of the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow on Nov. 1, 2015. Maxim Shemetov—Reuters “What were they hoping for? Just to hit tourism?” The _Times_ quoted Sisi as saying. “No, but also to hit relations. To hit relations with Russia.” \[[_NYT_](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/25/world/middleeast/in-reversal-egypt-says-terrorists-downed-russian-jet-o.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4236884/egypt-metrojet-crash-sisi-bomb/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4236884/egypt-metrojet-crash-sisi-bomb/"},"headline":"Egypt Concedes That Terrorists Caused Sinai Plane Crash","datePublished":"2016-02-25T08:38:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:00:21.293Z","description":"The Metrojet crash killed all 224 people onboard","url":"https://time.com/4236884/egypt-metrojet-crash-sisi-bomb/","keywords":["Egypt","russia","Terrorism","ISIS"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4eb11b7f00574cb6/69887f1a196cf49edc03a7e0/ap_216478057277.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nash Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4eb11b7f00574cb6/69887f1a196cf49edc03a7e0/ap_216478057277.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"APTOPIX Mideast Egypt Russian Plane Crash","caption":"APTOPIX Mideast Egypt Russian Plane Crash","creditText":"AP—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/egypt/","name":"Egypt"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4236884/egypt-metrojet-crash-sisi-bomb/","name":"Egypt Concedes That Terrorists Caused Sinai Plane Crash"}}]}] ```