Islamic State says its ‘soldier’ behind Nice truck attack

BEIRUT – An Islamic State-run media outlet says the man who barrelled his truck into a crowd in the French coastal city of Nice is a “soldier” of the group.

The Aamaq news agency on Saturday cited a “security source” as saying the attacker “carried out the operation in response to calls to target the citizens of coalition countries fighting the Islamic State.”

The statement did not name the attacker, and the language implied that he may have acted independently. There is no evidence IS was involved in planning the July 14 attack.

The attack killed 84 people and wounded 200. The driver was identified as Mohamed Bouhlel, a Tunisian deliveryman known to authorities as a petty criminal.