A few days after the Paris attacks that left hundreds dead and injured, Russia confirmed that a homemade explosive device
was detonated on board MetroJet Flight 9268 in October, killing all 224
passengers. Since then, ISIS published images of the bomb that was
detonated inside the airplane, saying that the Russian flight wasn’t the
original target. Instead, ISIS wanted to shoot down a Western plane.
The image below shows a Schweppes can, a detonator and a possible trigger switch, The Telegraph
notes. The picture was posted in the latest edition of the Dabiq
propaganda magazine, right alongside pictures of passports and IDs
belonging to the dead passengers.
The
items pictured in the magazine could have been sufficient for a suicide
bomber to trigger the explosive device, former Royal Navy bomb disposal
officer Dave Welch told The Telegraph. “The damage caused
would be quite significant given the pressure caused by the explosion
and the close confines within an aircraft. It would be quite capable of
ripping a hole in an airliner,” he said.
Russia
believes the device was snuck aboard the plane and detonated using a
timer device that was set for one hour. FSB believes the bomb contained
industrially produced explosive such as plastique or TNT, and that it
probably exploded in the passenger cabin, possibly beneath a passenger’s
seat and next to a window towards the rear of the fuselage.
The bomb may have been smuggled on board by airport service personnel in charge of cleaning, or delivering baggage and food.
Meanwhile, ISIS explained it had a different target in mind.
“And
so after having discovered a way to compromise the security at the
Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport and resolving to bring down a
plane belonging to a nation in the American-led Western coalition
against the Islamic State, the target was changed to a Russian plane,”
the message read.
One security source said that ISIS may have targeted a British passenger jet initially, according to reports.
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