The Islamic State group claims the man behind the attack in the Belgian city of Liege was a “soldier of the caliphate”.
The wording is typical of IS’ but IS also have a habit of making opportunistic claims even when perpetrators have not been directly linked to the terror group.
The perpetrator, named as 31-year-old Belgian national Benjamin H. was serving a jail term for theft, violence and drug abuse. Before you carried out the attack it is assumed that he was radically converted by IS inmates in the prison.
He then went on to kill two policewomen and a bystander in the eastern Belgian city of Liege on Tuesday and is suspected of killing someone the day before.
The claim came Wednesday night in a brief statement via the assumed IS’ media arm, the Aamaq news agency.
It says the attack in Liege was carried out in response to calls by the militant group to target countries that are members of an international coalition fighting the Islamic State group.
The attacker has been identified as Benjamin Herman, an inmate on a two-day prison furlough. He yelled “Allahu akbar,” or God is great in Arabic, during Tuesday’s rampage, including when he ran out to face police the last time.
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