Islamic State group ‘show off’ bomb used on Russian aircraft that killed 224 people

The Islamic State group has released a photo of the bomb it says was used to bring down a Russian passenger plane in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula last month, killing all 224 people on board.

The picture was published in the latest issue of the extremist group’s English-language magazine, with the caption ‘Exclusive, Image of the IED used to bring down the Russian airliner.’

The picture showed a yellow can of Schweppes Gold soda and what appeared to be other bomb components.

The extremist group, which has a powerful affiliate in the Sinai, had previously claimed to have downed the plane without offering further details.

Russia’s FSB security service said on Tuesday that a bomb brought down the plane. Most of those onboard were Russian tourists.

IS releases photo of bomb it says downed Russian jetliner.

photo AP: https://t.co/WH7577cFWf pic.twitter.com/6d2g4EHBx4

— TOHRU HIRANO (@TOHRU_HIRANO) November 19, 2015

Egypt says it is still investigating the cause of the crash.

The head of Russia’s FSB security service, Alexander Bortnikov, earlier this week told President Vladimir Putin it was clear the crash that killed 224 people was a “terrorist” act, and offered a $50m (€47m) reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible.

Islamic State had already claimed responsibility for the attack, and Putin vowed to hunt down those who carried it out.

The Russian agency appealed to the “Russian and international communities for co-operation in identifying the terrorists”.

It specified that the reward would be paid in dollars.

Bortnikov said: “According to our experts, a home-made explosive device equivalent to 1kg of TNT went off on board, which caused the plane to break up in the air, which explains why the fuselage was scattered over such a large territory.

“I can certainly say that this was a terrorist act.”

He said tests showed the explosives had been produced outside of Russia, but gave no further details.