DUSHANBE, July 18, 2014, Asia-Plus – International media sources report that world leaders demanded an international investigation into the shooting down of a Malaysian airliner over eastern Ukraine in which all 298 people on board were killed.

Reuters reports that one U.S. official said Washington strongly suspected a surface-to-air missile that downed the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 on a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday was fired by Ukrainian separatists backed by Moscow.

There was no evidence Ukrainian government forces fired a missile, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.   

According to Reuters, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott appeared to go further than other Western leaders in apportioning blame, demanding on Friday that Moscow answer questions about the "Russian-backed rebels" that he said were behind the disaster.

More than 20 Australians were reportedly among the many nationalities aboard Flight MH17. The Netherlands was the worst affected, with 154 Dutch citizens on the downed plane.

The plane crashed yesterday near the village of Hrabove about 40 kilometers from the border with Russia near the regional capital of Donetsk, an area that is a stronghold of Ukrainian separatists. 

Ukraine reportedly accused pro-Moscow militants, aided by Russian military intelligence officers, of firing a long-range, Soviet-era SA-11 ground-to-air missile.  Leaders of the rebel Donetsk People''s Republic denied any involvement and said a Ukrainian air force jet had brought down the intercontinental flight.

Russian President Vladimir Putin pinned the blame on Kiev for renewing its offensive against rebels two weeks ago after a ceasefire failed to hold. The Kremlin leader called it a "tragedy" but did not say who brought the Boeing 777 down, Reuters reports.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also called for a transparent international investigation into the incident.  The U.N. Security Council is discussing the issue today.

Kiev complained that separatists prevented Ukrainian officials from reaching the site.  Separatists were later quoted as saying they had found one of the black box flight recorders.

CNN reports that the United States has concluded a missile shot down the plane, but hasn''t pinpointed who was responsible.  According to CNN, a top Ukrainian official said the plane, which was on the way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was flying at about 10,000 meters when the missile hit.

CNN quoted the senior U.S. official as saying that a radar system saw a surface-to-air missile system turn on and track an aircraft right before the plane went down.  A second system saw a heat signature at the time the airliner was hit, the official said, noting that the United States is analyzing the trajectory of the missile to try to learn where the attack came from.

The Obama administration believes Ukraine did not have the capability in the region -- let alone the motivation -- to shoot down the plane, a U.S. official told CNN''s Jake Tapper.