The US authorities announces that they have not seen any reports that would indicate that the ISIS was involved in the crash of the Russian Airbus A321 passenger jet in Egypt, US State Department spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau said in a briefing on Monday.
“We have seen no reports that would support that,” Trudeau said when asked whether the United States is concerned about ISIS claims that it shot down the plane.
Kogalymavia flight 9268 crashed in Egypt’s northern Sinai Peninsula early Saturday shortly after takeoff from the Sharm El-Sheikh resort en route to St. Petersburg. All 217 passengers and seven crew members on board were confirmed dead in what has become Russia’s greatest civil aviation catastrophe in history.
Egyptian aviation authorities said the Airbus A321 made a sharp descent of 5,000 feet before disappearing from radar screens.
The Daesh-affiliate Anwar Be it Al-Maqdis operating in the north of the Sinai Peninsula claimed responsibility for the incident.
However, the three-party investigative committee handling the in-flight recorders of the ill-fated passenger jet has ruled out that the plane was struck by a missile.
US National Intelligence Director James Clapper said on Monday it is unlikely that terrorists took down the Russian airliner, but would not rule that out.
