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sinai group have been especially active. of course, you can't forget it was the sinai group that claimed responsibility for downing that russian passenger jet about a month ago killing over 200 civilians on board. >> richard engel, thank you so much from istanbul. and jim miklaszewski, busy day at the pentagon on top of all the threat matrix and concerns recently that are investigated about whether the intel from sentcom on what's happening against isis has been cooked or downplayed. and at the same time general campbell coming out today to give his initial report on the investigation into what happened in kunduz, afghanistan. can you report on that? i know you covered that today. >> reporter: that's right, andrea. 30 doctors and patients were killed in that air strike from the ac-130 american specter gun
so very significant details there, erin. >> very significant details. thank you very much, paul cruickshank. as paul is talking about that group and successfully recruiting in the military, ian lee is live at the sharm el-sheikh airport. officials are not letting any luggage be put into the cargo hold. that threat could still be present. >> reporter: that's right. and there's increased security here tonight at the airport. there's a checkpoint before you even get to the terminal which is behind me. then, inside there's layers of security. you're going to go through x-rays, metal detectors and probably even a patdown before you actually check in. that's because of isis in the sinai. probably the deadliest branch of the organization that most americans haven't heard about. as investigators comb through the debris and analyze the plane's data recorders trying to determine what led to the crash
of russian metrojet 9268, isis is claiming responsibility for killing the 224 people on board. in a new audio message, reportedly from the sinai branch, the militant group says find your black boxes and analyze them. we are the ones with god's blessing who brought it down. today, russian and egyptian officials insisting there's currently no evidence of a bomb. but u.s. officials say their intelligence is pointing to a bomb, possibly by one of isis' least known affiliates. >> it has proved itself as a lethal, very sophisticated and very powerful terrorist organization over the past specifically two years and specifically over the last five years, since 2011. >> reporter: it was late last year that the terror group now called state of sinai group
missiles to take down a flight traveling at 30,000 feet like flight 9268. experts worry commercial airliners could now be in their crosshairs. and erin, that's not just worrying for officials here in egypt but around the world. if isis is now viewing these as target that they are going to start going after. erin? >> ian lee, thank you very much, live at sharm el-sheikh tonight. and now, a former counterterrorism expert phil mudd is joining us. this group is possibly the most deadly part of isis but they have only been affiliated with isis for about a year. they have their own group and pledge allegiance to isis themselves. do you think they could have pulled this off or do you think isis is now more powerful and directed an attack like this? >> we're talking about capabilities, that is, whether a
al back dc baghdadi. here the aftermath of an take against an egyptian army checkpoint in broad daylight. in all, the group claims to have killed hundreds in road-side bomb, drive-by shootings and suicide attacks. while those captured are brutality executed. the sinai group is well-known for elicit smuggling, and the two most sophisticated weapons believed to be in their arsenal include russian-made anti-tank missiles used in targeting tanks, and a boat in the mediterranean. and shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles here, taking down an egyptian helicopter. analysts say what they don't possess are sophisticated missiles to shoot down a jet traveling over 30,000 feet like flight 9268. whether or not isis actually brought down the jet, experts worry commercial airliners could
pledged to abu backkr baghdadi. the group has adopted isis' brutal tactics. here, the aftermath of an attack of an egyptian army checkpoint in broad daylight. in all, the group claims to have killed hundreds in roadside bombings, drive-by shootings and suicide attacks. the sinai group is well known for smuggling and the two sophisticated weapons in their arsenal include russian-made anti-tank missiles used in targeting tanks in the mediterranean and shoulder-launch shoulder-launched ground to surface missiles. what analysts say they don't possess is sophisticated
in a new audio message purportedly from its sinai branch, the militant group says find your black boxes and analyze them. we are the ones with god's blessing who brought it down. today russian and egyptian officials insisting there is currently no evidence of a bomb. but u.s. officials say their intelligence is pointing to a bomb. possibly by one of isis' least known affiliates. >> the egyptian branch of isis in the sinai peninsula has proved itself as a lethal, very sophisticated, and very powerful terrorist organization over the past specifically two years, and over the past five years since 2011. >> reporter: it was late last year that terror group now called state of sinai group pledged allegiance to abu bakr
russia are still pushing back saying it's too soon to know if terrorism was at play. and u.s. officials say no final assessment will be made about the cause until forensics evidence and results from the black boxes are made available. erin? >> pamela, thank you very much. we're also getting some disturbing new intelligence about the group that claims responsibility for the bombing. paul cruickshank, our terrorism analyst, is "outfront" tonight. >> the intelligence is pointing to an insider at sharm el-sheikh airport. everybody is being looking to see who is potentially responsible for this attack and has a track record of recruiting insiders inside the egyptian military and police. in fact, a senior egyptian police colonel back in january 2014 passed over insider information that helped an attack at a security director headquarters in cairo.
group can train a bunch of people to get into a relatively unsecured airport, maybe a modestly sophisticated device. the story is not whether they have or have not had the capabilities to do this. if you look at the terrorist organizations, the hardest question as a professional to answer is what is their intent? most organizations struggle beyond saying i want to attack a local police station. the number of organizations that have a visionary leadership at the top that says let me take the isis or al qaeda message and target the head of the state, the israelis, the russians, that is very few. the message here is not the capability to get to sharm el-sheikh. it's the intent to get beyond local targets and go after the big guys. >> and the big guys, obviously you're going after russia. what about the united states? >> that's right. people may sit back and say the russians have entered the game