US intel suggests ISIS bombed Russian plane

The latest U.S. intelligence suggests that the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) most likely planted a bomb on a Russian passenger plane that broke apart in mid-air over Egypt last weekend, according to a report by CNN.

{mosads}“There is a definite feeling it was an explosive device planted in luggage or somewhere on the plane,” a U.S. official familiar with the matter told the news outlet.

Wednesday’s report mirrors similar conclusions from U.K. intelligence issued the same day.

Metrojet Flight 9268 broke apart after departing from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The resulting crash killed all 224 people on board.

British authorities raised the possibility Wednesday morning that a bomb caused the crash.

“While the investigation is still ongoing, we cannot say categorically why the Russian jet crashed,” Prime Minister David Cameron’s office said in a statement.

“But as more information has come to light we have become concerned that the plane may well have been brought down by an explosive device,” it added.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment Wednesday on the statement from Cameron’s office.

Neither the U.S. nor the U.K. intelligence communities have made any definitive conclusions on the crash’s cause, CNN reported.

The news network added that both the U.K. and Ireland have suspended all flights to and from Sharm el-Sheikh until further notice as a security precaution.

Metrojet Flight 9268 left the Egyptian resort city on Oct. 31 on a flight to St. Petersburg and vanished from area radars after 23 minutes.

ISIS has since claimed responsibility for downing the aircraft.

Egypt and Russia are disputing a terrorism link, however.  

Egypt’s Interior Ministry said it isn’t increasing security in either Sharm el-Sheikh or its airport given “there is no indication [the plane crash] was a terrorist operation.”

Egypt has struggled with ISIS-backed militants in the Sinai Peninsula in recent years.

Russia, meanwhile, began conducting air strikes on the extremist organization’s positions in Syria last September.

This report was updated at 3:57 p.m.