CAIRO (Reuters) – A militant group affiliated to Islamic State in Egypt claimed responsibility for the downing of a Russian passenger plane that crashed in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula on Saturday, the group said in a statement circulated by supporters on Twitter.
Egyptian security sources earlier on Saturday said early investigations suggested the plane crashed due to a technical fault.
The claim of responsibility was also carried by the Aamaq website which acts as a semi official news agency for Islamic State.
“The fighters of the Islamic State were able to down a Russian plane over Sinai province that was carrying over 220 Russian crusaders. They were all killed, thanks be to God,” the statement circulated on Twitter said.
(Reporting by Mostafa Hashem; Writing by Ahmed Aboulenein; editing by Ralph Boulton)