Syria on Wednesday condemned as ’coward’ the terrorist attack against the Russian civilian plane over Sinai which claimed the lives of more than 220 people aboard.

Syria on Wednesday condemned as 'coward' the terrorist attack against the Russian civilian plane over Sinai which claimed the lives of more than 220 people aboard.

The Syrian foreign ministry said in a statement that Damascus its extreme expression of sympathy and solidarity with the people and leadership of the Russian Federation, State-run news agency, SANA, reported.

Syria “affirms its readiness for utmost cooperation with the Russian authorities in chasing criminals of ISIL who perpetrated this heinous terrorist act and punish them severely,” the statement said referring to the so-called “Islamic State in Iraq and Levant” Takfiri group.

Earlier on Tuesday, Russia confirmed it was a terrorist attack which downed the plane.
An “improvised explosive device” detonated soon after the plane took off, the head of Russia’s Federal Security Service, Alexander V. Bortnikov, said.

In its statement, Syria also lashed out at the countries supporting terrorism across the region and the world, stressing that the expansion of terror was due to wrong policies of the West and the United States as well as their tools Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other countries, the statement said.

These countries are serving the West’s agenda to spread chaos across our region, the statement added.

The Syrian ministry meanwhile, renewed its call to consolidate “international efforts to eliminate terrorism in line with the UN Security Council resolutions related to combating terrorism and obliging the terrorist organizations’ supporting countries to implement these resolutions.”