After Russia started battling the Islamic State via airstrikes, the group known as the Islamic State of the Sinai, or Wilayat al Sinai, named the country as a target. The Islamic State affiliate has since claimed responsibility for taking down the Russian airliner, most recently on Nov. 4.
Mounting concerns that a bomb may have killed all 224 person on board Metrojet Flight 9268 come from the rise of Wilayat al Sinai in the northern part of the Sinai peninsula. Though President Obama has yet to comment, U.S. officials have said intelligence points to the Islamic State or its affiliate’s involvement in detonating a bomb on the Russian airliner.