Sharm El-Sheikh

Egypt Detains Airport Personnel as Russia Confirms Metrojet Crash Was Terrorism

The Russians have been saying they would not jump to conclusions about the nature of the Metrojet crash in Egypt until a lengthy investigation was concluded but, on Tuesday, Russian security officials suddenly declared the plane was indeed destroyed by a terrorist attack. There have also been reports of police detaining or arresting airport workers, although the Egyptian government has disputed those accounts.

The Associated Press

Report: U.S. Official ‘99.9 Percent’ Certain Russian Plane Brought Down By Terrorist Bomb

While American officials discuss terrorist bombing scenarios as a “possibility” for the crash of a Russian jetliner over Egypt on October 31, and President Obama has used that word in his public comments so far, CNN reports intelligence agencies are increasingly confident of this diagnosis. One official, speaking off the record, said it was “99.9 percent certain” that a terrorist bomb brought the plane down.

Getty Images

ISIS May Have Used ‘Inside Man’ at Airport to Plant Bomb on Russian Plane

It has been said that one reason American and British intelligence agencies suspect an ISIS bomb brought down a Russian Metrojet airliner over Egypt is that elevated “chatter” about the incident between ISIS militants was detected online. On Monday, U.S. intelligence officials told ABC News these intercepts “indicated that ISIS was in communication with someone at the airport.”

Suliman el-Oteify/AP