UPDATE: Nov. 4, 2015, 5:00 PM ET
An unnamed U.S. official told NBC News Wednesday that evidence points to a bomb planted on board Russian Metrojet Flight 9268 as the cause of a deadly crash over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula last weekend.
An ISIS-affiliated group claimed responsibility for the crash on Wednesday. U.S. officials are looking into the “distinct possibility” that ISIS was involved in the crash, which killed all 224 passengers on board the jet, NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski said live on MSNBC.
Another official briefed on the matter told the Associated Press that the intecepted communications played a role in the tentative conclusion that the Islamic State group’s Sinai affiliate planted an explosive device on the plane.
The official, who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity, and others said there had been no formal judgment rendered by the CIA or other intelligence agencies, and that forensic evidence from the blast site, including the airplane’s black box, were still being analyzed.
The Associated Press’ Ken Dilenian contributed to this report.
