Egypt Concedes That Terrorists Caused Sinai Plane Crash

February 25, 2016 3:38 AM EST

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi acknowledged 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 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 Kabrit military airport, some 20 miles north of Suez, Egypt, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015. A Russian Metrojet plane crashed Saturday morning in a mountainous region in the Sinai after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all 224 people aboard. Officials said the pilot had reported a technical problem and was looking to make an emergency landing before radio contact with air traffic controllers went dead. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) — 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, 2015Amr 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

Russian plane crash site in central Sinai, Egypt — 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

epa05004879 Ambulances transporting the bodies of the victims of the Russian passenger flight crash arrive at the Zeinhom morgue, Cairo, Egypt, 31 October 2015. According to reports the Egyptian Government has dispatched more than 45 ambulances to the crash site of the Kogalymavia Metrojet Russian passenger jet, which disappeared from raider after requesting an emergency landing early 31 October, crashing in the mountainous al-Hasanah area of central Sinai. The black box has been recovered at the site. Authorities believe all onboard perished in the crash. EPA/MOHAMMED HOSSAM — 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]

See Photos From the Russian Plane Crash and Its Aftermath

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