Islamic State: Accused in Manhatten attack a soldier of the caliphate

The Islamic State has claimed that the man who carried out Manhattan truck attack on Wednesday was a "soldier of the caliphate".

The Manhattan truck attack killed eight people and injured many. According to a New York Times journalist who covers the Islamic State, the terror group also called the Manhattan attack "one of the most prominent attacks targeting Crusaders in America". The ISIS statement reportedly goes on to say the Manhattan attack a nod to the terror group's call to the "soldiers of the caliphate in America and Europe to target the citizens of the Crusader countries that are part of the alliance against the Islamic State."

Notably, as the boss of a private intelligence agency observed, the Islamic State did not talk about or suggest that it had help with planning or coordinating the attack.

The ISIS statement apart from talking about the Manhattan terror attack also spoke about last month's Las Vegas shooting, which too was claimed by the Islamic State. More than 50 people died after a gunman rained bullets from a hotel window onto a crowd of concert-goers in Las Vegas.