ISIL in Egypt Claims It Downed Russian Airliner
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group's affiliate in Egypt has claimed it downed the Russian passenger plane that crashed Saturday in the Sinai Peninsula, where the militants are waging an insurgency, killing all on board.
"The soldiers of the caliphate succeeded in bringing down a Russian plane in Sinai," said the statement circulated on social media, the AFP reported.
A Russian Airbus A3 carrying more than 200 passengers from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh crashed in central Sinai with all on board dead.
The Russian passenger plane was carrying 214 Russian passengers and three Ukrainians, along with seven crew members. Out of the total 217 passengers, 138 were women, 62 men and 17 were children.
Egyptian military and security officials said none of the 224 people on board the plane were alive.
Egyptian officials told The Associated Press that none of the passengers and crew on board the plane survived the crash.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared November 1 a day of mourning, the Kremlin press service reported. Earlier Putin expressed his condolences to the passengers' relatives.
