The Islamic State (IS) terrorist group has claimed on social media that one of its “soldiers” carried out the truck attack in Nice, France, that left 84 dead and more than 200 injured.
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In a statement Saturday, it said “the person… carried out the operation in response to calls to target nationals of the coalition which is fighting the Islamic State”.
Bouhlel drove a 19-ton truck through throngs of people who had gathered to watch the Bastille Day fireworks Thursday night, killing at least 84 people and injuring 202. “The individual who committed this absolutely despicable, unspeakable crime was not known by the intelligence services, as he had not stood out over the past years-whether through court convictions or through his activity-for support of radical Islamist ideology”, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said.
Prosecutors said Tunisian Lahouaiej-Bouhlel had driven the lorry 2km (1.2 miles) along the promenade targeting people.
Several people have told police that Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, 31, had shown signs of being religious, despite previous reports to the contrary, said a source close to the investigation.
Forensic teams are now searching through Lahouaiej-Bouhlel’s computer to find any more links to the attacks.
The veracity of the group’s claim couldn’t immediately be determined, but what is known so far about Bouhlel thus far suggests a troubled, angry man with little interest in the group’s ultra-puritanical brand of Islam.
The operational reserve is now made up of 12,000 volunteers, 9,000 of whom are within the paramilitary police and 3,000 in the regular police force, said Cazeneuve.
A woman walks on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, southern France, Saturday, July 16, 2016.
French authorities and officials are not without concern about what is to come.
Touraine, the health minister, urged any survivors to seek counselling offered by the government.
It should also be noted ISIS has claimed responsibility for attacks it had no direct role in before, simply taking credit for the actions of people who were influenced by the group.
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President Hollande said the attack was of “an undeniable terrorist nature” and warned that the battle against terrorism would be long, as France faced an enemy “that will continue to attack those people and those countries that count liberty as an essential value”.
