On Saturday, a report emerged across news sites, globally, of a Russian plane crash in the Sinai region of Egypt which killed everyone on board. The Metrojet Airbus 321 was carrying mostly passengers who had gone on holiday to the Sharm El Sheikh Resort town in the Sinai Peninsula. A militant organization in Egypt known as the Sinai province of ISIL (Islamic state of Syria and Levant), claimed responsibility for the crash, calling it a revenge attack on Russia for its participation in the war on ISIL in Syria.
Both Egyptian and Russian authorities have been at the scene of the crash since Saturday, with wreckage from the plane scattered within a 20 mile radius of the crash site. On Saturday, Egyptian authorities called the claims by the Sinai terrorists, propaganda, and yesterday, further asserted the plane could not have broken up in mid-air, which is a logical explanation for why debris from the plane was strewn so far apart from each other. Russian authorities, however, stated that though the plane was too high up to have been hit by a missile, the only explanation for the crash was that it exploded in mid-air. U.S satellite imagery technology seems to support the latter notion, when it reported that there was a ‘midair heat flash’ over the Sinai Peninsula at the time of the crash.
The swift readiness to dismiss ISIL claims by Egyptian Prime Minister, Sherif Ismail Mohamed – though other stakeholders agree with him – followed by the declaration of Egypt’s civil aviation ministry that the plane did not explode mid-air implies that Egyptian authorities are looking to deflect culpability from their inefficient security efforts to maybe a fault with the plane. If this is true, it would mean that they care more about their reputation than the people who died, which would paint Egypt as a self-serving country.
The Sharm El Sheikh resort, in the Sinai Peninsula, third largest of its kind in Africa, is a holiday resort for many people around the World, mostly Russians and English tourists. About 3 million Russian tourists and 900,000 English tourists visit Egypt annually. The Sharm El Sheikh resort is one of the most popular holiday spots in Egypt. The country, recovering from years of civil unrest, has begun to recover, and tourism is one of the tools it is using to that effect. However, this plane crash seems to be a setback for them, with claims from ISIL worsening the situation.
Though preliminary reports have not pointed to a cogent reason for the crash, signs point to an internal explosion, either from mechanical failure or a bomb on board. It is therefore premature to start apportioning blame. Still, if ISIL is truly responsible, does this mean Africa is the new battleground for Russia and ISIL? Today, a Russian cargo plane crashed in South-Sudan.
