It alleges that the attacker was responding to its calls to target citizens of countries in the coalition fighting ISIS.
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“Some express their pain, some can not express the pain and we help them express it and put words on what happened”, Simpson said. It was the third mass-casualty attack against France in 18 months, leaving many shocked and horrified by the particulars but no longer surprised by the larger picture.
But in a statement to reporters, Cazeneuve hinted that Bouhlel may have had a last-minute adoption of a more extremist worldview.
But two French officials, speaking on background because they lacked permission to discuss an ongoing case, separately told BuzzFeed News that investigators have yet to find any specific connection between Bouhlel and ISIS ideology, let alone any sort of direct communication or support.
The 31-year-old “seemed to have been radicalised very quickly from what his friends and family” have told police, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said today. “His mother would ask him – ‘why do you never speak?’ and he would reply ‘because I don’t want to talk.’ “He did not know people, he never sent us presents, he never said hello”.
Records showed that the 19-ton truck that was rammed through the seaside crowd in Nice was rented in the outskirts of the city on July 11 and was overdue on the night of the attack.
Signs of life returned to the promenade on Saturday morning.
Ten children and teenagers were among the dead.
Five children were still in critical condition as of Sunday, according to hospital spokeswoman Stephanie Simpson.
While a four-year-old boy who was reported missing in the aftermath of the carnage, claimed by the barbaric Islamic State, has now been confirmed dead. He called several times a day.
“No. we have an individual who was not known to intelligence services.”
France, which has a Muslim population of almost five million, is also home to hundreds of jihadists who have flocked to fight alongside IS.
On Friday Prime Minister Manuel Valls linked the attack to religious extremism. Government spokesman Stephane Le Foll warned against attempts to divide the country, calling for “unity and cohesion”.
The post was shared more than 22,000 times and hours later Banner updated her post to say that the baby had been found safe and well.
“Despite all of that, this man’s decisions… created the drama and horror we experienced”.
Cazeneuve also defended the security measures taken for the celebrations of France’s national day.
Though the pedestrian area was protected by metal barriers and police cars, the truck “forced its way onto the footpath” according to authorities.
The claims were published on social media channels in the name of IS’s Aamaq news agency and in an online audio file of the daily news bulletin from the group’s al-Bayan radio.
While possessing assault rifles is illegal in France, they are available on the black market and the attackers in January and November’s attacks in Paris procured them without much trouble.
His estranged wife was taken into custody for questioning, while his father in the Tunisian city of M’saken told AFP his son suffered from depression: “From 2002 to 2004, he had problems that caused a nervous breakdown”.
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Until he murdered 84 revelers on Bastille Day, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel’s most serious run-in with the law was throwing a wooden plank during an argument with another driver.
