One of the Russian jets that crashed Aug. 24

Investigators said they had discovered traces of a type of explosive previously used by Chechen bombers in the wreckage of the two planes -- a Tu-154 passenger jet that came apart in midair and crashed near the southern city of Rostov-on-Don and a Tu-134 airliner, which crashed about 800 km to the north near the town of Tula. Both had set off from Moscow's Domodedovo Airport.

A spokesman for the FSB intelligence agency was quoted by ITAR-Tass and Interfax news agencies as saying that the explosive was Hexogen, the same material that Russian authorities claimed was used in a series of apartment bombings in 1999 that killed some 200 people.

The Islambouli Brigades, a radical Islamic group, claimed that it hijacked the two planes to avenge the killing of Muslims in Chechnya and threatened more attacks, according to a statement posted Aug. 27 on a Web site that usually carries militant statements.

The Japan Times Weekly: Sept. 4, 2004
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