수니파 무장조직 '이슬람국가'(IS)는 18일(현지시간) 영문 홍보잡지 '다비크' 12호에서 지난달 31일 러시아 여객기를 추락시키는 데 쓰였다는 급조 폭발물(IED)을 공개했다.
이 잡지에 나온 폭발물은 330㎖ 정도 용량의 탄산음료 슈웹스 캔과 뇌관, 기폭장치로 보이는 전기장치 등 비교적 간단한 구조로 돼 있다.
IS는 러시아의 9월30일 시리아 공습 개시가 이번 공격의 원인임을 강조한 뒤 "샤름엘셰이크 공항의 보안을 무력화하는 방법을 알아내고서 미국이 주도하는 동맹군 가담 국가의 비행기에서 러시아 비행기로 목표물이 바뀌었다"고 주장했다.
이어 "폭탄(폭발물) 한 발을 비행기에 몰래 반입해 러시아가 경솔하게 결정(시리아 폭격)한 지 한 달만에 러시아 십자군 224명을 죽였다"고 밝혔다.
아울러 숨진 승객의 것이라며 여권 사진도 함께 공개했다.
러시아 여객기는 지난달 31일 이집트 휴양지 샤름엘셰이크를 이륙해 시나이 반도 상공에서 추락, 탑승자 224명이 모두 숨졌다.
IS 이집트 지부는 당일 이를 자신의 소행이라고 주장했고 러시아 당국도 17일 비행기 꼬리와 가까운 승객 좌석 아래 설치된 TNT 1㎏의 폭발력을 지닌 폭발물이 터져 추락했다고 발표했다.
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(Yonhap) |
<관련 영문 기사>
IS releases photo of bomb it says downed Russian jetliner
The Islamic State group on Wednesday released a photo of a bomb hidden in a soft drink can that it said had brought down a Russian passenger jet over Egypt last month, and it also announced it had killed hostages from Norway and China.
The disclosure of the new violence by the militants came as Russian and French warplanes continued their stepped-up airstrikes against IS targets in Syria. The attacks on civilians in Paris and aboard the Russian jetliner have galvanized international determination to confront the extremists.
The photo, which has not been corroborated, was released by the group’s English-language online magazine. It showed a can of Schweppes Gold, a soft drink sold in Egypt, and what appeared to be other bomb components next to it.
The Metrojet Airbus 321-200 crashed in the Sinai desert shortly after taking off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for St. Petersburg. All 224 people aboard, mostly Russian tourists, were killed.
In the magazine, the group said it “discovered a way to compromise the security at the Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport,” without providing details.
It said it initially planned to bring down a plane from one of the countries taking part in the U.S.-led coalition’s air campaign against IS militants in Syria and Iraq but changed the target to a Russian jetliner after Moscow began its airstrikes in Syria in September.
The extremists, who have a powerful affiliate in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, previously claimed to have downed the jetliner but did not give out details of how the attack was carried out.
IS also released a photo of what it said were passports belonging to dead passengers from the Metrojet flight.
Russia’s FSB security service said Tuesday the Metrojet flight had crashed as a result of “a terrorist act” _ a bomb containing the equivalent of 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of TNT that exploded aboard the jet, causing it to break apart in the air. Egyptian authorities have not said what caused the crash, saying an investigation is still underway.
Bob Ayers, a former CIA officer and an international security analyst, said it would be “easy” to bring down a commercial airliner with a device hidden in a soda can.
“To bring down an airplane, you don’t need to blow it apart, you just need enough to rupture the pressure hull of the aircraft, and the air pressure will do the work for you,” he said. A can with a device inside could “blow a really nice hole” in an airplane, he said.
The IS magazine also announced the killing of hostages from Norway and China who had appeared in an earlier issue wearing yellow jumpsuits. It said they had been killed “after being abandoned by kafir (infidel) nations and organizations.” In the images, the men both appeared to have been shot to death.
The Norwegian has been identified as Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad, 48, a graduate student in political philosophy from Porsgrunn, south of Oslo. The Chinese man had been identified as Fan Jinghui, 50, a self-described “wanderer” from Beijing who once taught middle school.
The militants did not say when or where the two were captured when announcing their captivity in a previous issue of the magazine. However, the last post on Grimsgaard-Ofstad’s Facebook page, dated Jan. 24, said he had arrived in Idlib, Syria, on his way to Hama.
Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg told a news conference that the government cannot confirm the killing, but added: “We have no reasons to doubt it.”
“It is painful for the family and the whole country,” she said. She called IS a “barbaric group,” and said “we do not pay ransom.” She added that “even if it hurts, we should never let the terrorists win.”
Foreign Minister Borge Brende said the Norwegian citizen “was harshly mistreated,” adding that photos and videos were sent to Norwegian authorities along with ransom demands. Brende said the government was releasing the information in accordance with the family’s wishes.
There was no immediate reaction in Beijing.
The photos appeared in the 12th issue of Dabiq magazine, named for a town in northern Syria. It contains articles, interviews and opinion pieces about the group. Distributed online as a pdf file, it has a professional layout, including photos and graphics, giving it the appearance of a glossy magazine.
The online magazine is part of a media operation that has produced scores of graphic, professionally produced videos of military operations and the killing of captives in Iraq, Syria and countries like Libya and Afghanistan, where the IS group has local affiliates and supporters.
The defiant tone of the latest issue came as France and Russia have vowed retaliation for the Paris attacks and the plane bombing. Recent airstrikes from the countries have targeted the northern Syrian city of Raqqa _ the IS group’s de facto capital _ and other positions.
The bombardment of Raqqa and its outskirts has killed at least 33 IS fighters in the past three days, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It said most were killed when French and other warplanes struck IS checkpoints. Activists say the group is preventing civilians from leaving Raqqa in order to use them as human shields.
The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists in the country, said more IS fighters are believed to have been killed. Zeid al-Thabet, a member of an anti-IS media collective that covers Raqqa, also reported a “large number” of IS fighters killed, but he had no precise figure.
Col.-Gen. Andrei Kartapolov, a spokesman for Russia’s military general staff, said it is developing plans for joint military operations with France in Syria. President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian missile cruiser Moskva, which is deployed in the Mediterranean, to cooperate with the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle.
“When the Charles de Gaulle comes to the shores of Syria, joint military work will be organized,” Kartapolov said, according to Russian news agencies. He added that Russian warplanes carried out 59 sorties Wednesday, destroying 149 “terrorist objects.” The attacks included 12 missiles fired from long-range Tu-160 bombers in Aleppo and Idlib provinces, he added. (AP)
