Free Republic

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-10-31/islamic-state-claims-responsibility-russian-airplane-crash

google translation: Last contact with the leader of the stricken Russian plane that crashed in the Sinai Details

A Russian civilian plane with 217 passengers and 7 crew aboard crashed, and is believed shot down by a missile, over Sinai early Saturday morning, Oct. 31, shortly after taking off from the Sinai resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh for St. Petersburg. Initial reporting on the fate of the plane was confused and is still not completely clear. It was first reported to be missing after contact was lost with Egyptian air control; it was then said to be safely on its way to Russia over Turkey. Russian aviation sources then reported the A321 to be missing over Cypriot air...

A Russian civilian aircraft crashed moments after it went missing in Egypt's Sinai region on Saturday. There were said to be 217 passengers and seven crew members on board when Egypt's air traffic control lost contact with the aircraft, according to reports. Egyptian prime minister Sherif Ismail has confirmed that the Russian plane crashed near Nekhel in the north of Sinai, and has set up a cabinet level crisis committee to investigate, according to AFP The Russian airline Kogalymavia flight was on its way to Russia after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh resort on the Red Sea. Most people on...

Paris (France) (AFP) - Air France and Lufthansa said Saturday they will stop flying over Egypt's Sinai peninsula after a Russian passenger plane went down in the area with the loss of all 224 people on board. The airlines said they were taking the measure as a precaution while the cause of the Russian crash was investigated. The Islamic State (IS) group affiliate in Egypt has said it downed the plane, without saying how, but Russia's transport minister said the claim "cannot be considered accurate" and an Egyptian security official said the plane did not crash because of an attack....

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. SNIP.... "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.

Russian airliner carrying more than 200 passengers missing on flight over Egypt's Sinai peninsula.....

Islamic State claim 'not accurate' - Russia Russia’s transport minister Maksim Sokolov has said that the claim Islamic State militants brought down the plane “can’t be considered accurate”. Shadi Bushra, reporting for the Guardian in Cairo, has also spoken to Mohamed Samir, Egypt’s army spokesman, who also refuted the claim. They can put out whatever statements they want but there is no proof at this point that terrorists were responsible for this plane crash. We will know the true reasons when the civil aviation authority in coordination with Russian authorities completes its investigation. But the army sees no authenticity to...

Well, it's official now. Egypt is getting an aircraft carrier. FRENCH MISTRAL-CLASS WARSHIP. NEXT PORT OF CALL: EGYPT. IMAGE SOURCE: FRANCISCO GONZALEZ VIA FLICKR. Actually, two aircraft carriers. Earlier this month, we told you about Egypt's plans to buy both of the Mistral-class amphibious assault ships France had been trying to sell to Russia -- then refused to sell after Russia invaded Ukraine. At that time, France had only confirmed that Egypt presented one of multiple "serious options" for offloading its aircraft carriers. Other nations, including the United Arab Emirates and Canada had also expressed interest. But last week, the...

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Wednesday called for a coalition to combat terrorism in the Middle East. Opening a meeting with Putin in Moscow, el-Sissi said "the Egyptian people" are hoping for broader ties with Russia in all areas, particularly in fighting terrorism in the Middle East. El-Sissi's Russian visit, his second in the past three months, highlights Moscow's attempts to expand its influence in Egypt at a time when Egyptian-U.S. relations have soured in the aftermath of the ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

Russia has ‘gifted' Egypt with a new missile corvette that was part of the inauguration of a new Suez Canal expansion project earlier this month, Egypt's army said. The move by the Russian government to "gift" Egypt the Molniya missile boat is "part of military cooperation between the Egyptian and Russian armed forces" as well as indicative of "Russia's support for Egypt and the matching visions of both countries on the war against terrorism," Egyptian military spokesman Mohamed Samir said in a statement Saturday. He added that the highly advanced missile ship will be a new addition to Egypt's "development...

Watch the USS Theodore Roosevelt navigate through the new Suez Canal with all of its fighter jets on deck. It’s super cool because the aircraft carrier is so big and the water of the canal is so calm that it feels like the Earth is moving around the land formation that is the USS Theodore Roosevelt.

<p>Egyptian security officials say special forces killed nine members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, including a former member of parliament, during a raid on a Cairo apartment.</p> <p>Wednesday’s raid came as Islamic militants launched a massive coordinated assault on Egyptian troops in the northern Sinai Peninsula that left at least 53 soldiers dead. It was not immediately clear if the incidents were related.</p>

<p>EL-ARISH, Egypt (AP) - Dozens of Islamic militants unleashed a wave of simultaneous attacks, including suicide car bombings, on Egyptian army checkpoints in the restive northern Sinai Peninsula on Wednesday, killing at least 53 soldiers, officials said.</p> <p>The advanced planning and coordinated execution of the attacks show that the long-running insurgency in the area is growing stronger, posing a serious threat to Egypt's security as the military-backed government struggles to restore stability after years of unrest since the 2011 uprising.</p>

Islamic State militants launched a wide-scale coordinated assault on several military checkpoints in Egypt's North Sinai on Wednesday in which 50 people were killed, security sources said, the largest attack yet in the insurgency-hit province. Egyptian army F-16 jets and Apache helicopters strafed the region that lies within the Sinai Peninsula, a strategic area located between Israel, the Gaza Strip and the Suez Canal. It was the second high-profile attack in Egypt this week. On Monday, the prosecutor-general was killed in a car bombing in Cairo. The attacks raise questions about the government's ability to contain a Sinai-based insurgency that...

"Officials say the new waterway will be a symbol of the new Egypt" Few things in Egypt are more iconic, revered and profitable than the Suez Canal. So in a bid to refloat the country's ailing economy, President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi is building another one. He broke ground on the second Suez Canal last August, at a ceremony full of pomp and patriotism. With fighter jets conducting aerial displays overhead, Egypt's new strongman promised it would be "a channel of prosperity". Tight deadline It was not plain sailing at the start. There was some flooding at the drilling site...

Though Iran’s Great Prophet-9 military exercise ended last month, you can count on Tehran’s military to wring every last drop of bellicosity from the event—such as showing off an apparently armed drone taking a bead on a ship crossing the Strait of Hormuz. Iran conducted the exercise during the last week of February, and centered it around the theatrical, Michael Bay-esque destruction of a stationary wooden aircraft carrier prop floating off Iran’s Larak Island.

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report – Parts 1 and II on the morning after an terrorist bombing rampage at three idyllic Sinai desert resorts – with two dozen known dead and scores still missing – the first clues have been found to the identities of the hands behind the massacre and their targets. DEBKAfile’s intelligence and counter-terror sources report that the explosives used to tear away the entire frontage of the Taba Hilton and hit the Nueiba oasis campside further south on the Red Sea coast were of Iranian manufacture; the same make as the bombs used in the 1996 Khobar Towers...

Armed Israeli security guards thwarted an attempt by Somali pirates to a hijack a ship that was sailing to Israel on Tuesday. The ship was sailing with a foreign flag but had Israeli security guards on board. The ship continued on its way to Israel and will arrive in a couple of days. Israeli security companies have conquered the shipping security industry in the past couple of years. Hundreds of former IDF combat unit fighters secure foreign ships, both trade and commercial, from the threat of pirates.