Insight - Russian plane crash points to Egypt's counterinsurgency flaws

An Egyptian army soldier looks on from his postion at a checkpoint in Al Arish city, in the troubled northern part of the Sinai peninsula, July 8, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer

ARISH, Egypt (Reuters) - Giant posters of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in military uniform hang at security checkpoints leading to the Sinai, but the crash of a Russian airliner in the peninsula has shattered the image of control they seek to project.

Western officials have raised the possibility that the same militants that are fighting to topple Sisi's government may have brought down the passenger airplane with a bomb.