ISIS Claim The Nice Attacker As “One Of The Soldiers” Of Islamic State

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Published

July 16, 2016

ISIS have claimed their extremist fingerprints are all over yesterday’s attack in Nice, saying Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel “carried out the operation in response to calls to target nationals of states that are part of the coalition fighting Islamic State.“

According to the ISIS-affiliated Amaq news organisation, the 31-year-old Tunisian-born migrant was “one of the soldiers of Islamic State.”

While there has been little definitive evidence to support their claim, the tragedy in Nice joins recent attacks in Paris, Brussels, and Orlando that the organisation has owned up to.

The lack of immediate evidence also lends credence to the idea they could just be spreading opportunistic lies, with the intention of linking their organisation to the works of lone attackers.

German journos: #Amaq statement on ISIS responsibility giving no evidence that they were involved at all in #Nice. https://t.co/9VWWbODWRu

— Jan Philipp Albrecht (@JanAlbrecht) July 16, 2016

Investigators have described Lahouaiej-Bouhlel as a petty criminal who was known to law enforcement. Terrifyingly, he was totally absent from French security organisations’ terrorist watch-lists.

French police have also detained five men described as Lahouaiej-Bouhlel’s “close entourage”, who they think may have been involved in the Bastille Day incident.

As it stands, the horrific truck attack has left 84 dead, with many more wounded.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald / Brisbane Times.
Photo: Nicolas Kovarik/IP3 / Getty.