ISIS is claiming responsibility for this week’s terror attack in the French city of Nice, in which 84 people were killed after a man drove a truck through a large crowd watching fireworks and celebrating Bastille Day, the French day of independence.
The statement was released by the Amaq media agency, which often distributes news on the group’s behalf. In the statement it calls the attacker in Nice “one of the soldiers of the Islamic State,” who responded to calls from ISIS to target citizens of the international coalition that is currently carrying out air strikes against ISIS targets in Syria and Iraq.
It has been part of ISIS’ method to claim responsibility for attacks around the world that the group has had no hand  in planning or directing. At the same time, some of the attackers, such as the Orlando nightclub shooter, managed to pledge allegiance to ISIS before entering the club last month and firing on dozens of people, killing 49.
French authorities identified the driver as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, 31, who worked as a delivery driver. Born in Tunisia, he was also a resident of Nice. He was known to authorities and was given a suspended six-month sentence for committing violence with a weapon. His father, who lives in Tunisia, said Bouhlel had had mental health issues. There has been nothing so far from the authorities’ investigation to suggest he’d been acting under orders from ISIS, or had been radicalised before carrying out the attack.
Five other people have been taken into custody, French officials report.