(VOVworld) - Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said on Wednesday for the first time that the Russian airbus A321 that crashed in Sinai last year was downed by terrorists.

The wreckage of the Russian jet brought down in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula by a suspected Isis bomb (Photo: AFP/Getty)

According to Al-Sisi, the culprits, who have carried out several attacks in Sinai, aimed to damage Egypt’s tourism and harm Egypt’s relationships with Russia, Italy, and other countries in order to isolate Egypt.

Back in November last year, Russia said its plane was bombed and Islamic State confirmed its responsibility for the attack. Egypt, though, insisted that its investigation had found no evidence of terrorist action.