ISIS shows photo of Russian plane bomb

The ISIS group said on Wednesday it had smuggled a bomb on board a Russian airliner that went down in October, after discovering a “way to compromise the security” at an Egyptian airport.

In its online magazine Dabiq, the group published what it said were pictures of the explosive, apparently contained in a soda can, and of passports obtained by its fighters that had belonged to the dead passengers.

The magazine said ISIS had initially planned to down a plane belonging to a country from the US-led coalition targeting militants in Iraq and Syria.

The militants decided to instead target the Russian plane departing the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh after Moscow began an air campaign in Syria in late September, the magazine said.

All 224 people on board the Saint Petersburg-bound Airbus died when it went down in the Sinai Peninsula on October 31.

“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,” an article in the English-language magazine said.

“A bomb was smuggled onto the airplane,” it said.

Russian daily Kommersant reported on Wednesday that the bomb had been placed in the aircraft’s main cabin, not in the cargo compartment as reported earlier, citing an unnamed source.

Russia on Tuesday said a bomb had brought down the plane and vowed to hunt down the perpetrators, confirming suspicions raised earlier by Britain and the United States.

Egypt says a team investigating the disaster has not yet found the cause.

Moscow began airstrikes in Syria in September against what it said were “terrorist” targets including ISIS jihadists. Syria’s opposition has accused Moscow of seeking to bolster President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and targeting anti-regime rebels.

ISIS commands the loyalty of militants in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula who have killed hundreds of soldiers and policemen.

ISIS also said in its magazine on Wednesday that it had killed a Chinese and a Norwegian captive, showing what appeared to be pictures of the dead men under a banner reading “executed”.

The Norwegian foreign ministry declined to comment on the claim.

In September, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said a Norwegian man had been held hostage in Syria since January and was believed to be in the hands of ISIS.

She said Norway did not intend to pay a ransom for his release. Ms Solberg did not name the man but said he was in his 40s and had been held by several groups since he was first captured.

China’s foreign ministry also said in September that one of its missing citizens appeared to be in ISIS captivity.

In its previous issue of Dabiq, ISIS showed pictures of two men it said were Norwegian and Chinese,and said their governments had “abandoned” them both, but that ransom payments could secure their release.

In its latest issue, it did not give any details about how, when or where they were killed.