IS claims Nice massacre

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility Saturday for an attack in which a Tunisian drove a truck through a crowd in Nice, killing 84, prompting hard questions in France over security failures. In a statement via its Amaq news service IS said one of its “soldiers” carried out the attack on Thursday night “in response to calls to target nations of coalition states that are fighting (IS)”. Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, 31, smashed a 19-tonne truck into crowd of people in the Riviera city who were celebrating Bastille Day — France’s national day. Police said he had no known connection to jihadist groups. French President Francois Hollande met with his defence and security chiefs and cabinet ministers as criticism from the opposition and media mounted over security failings after the third major attack in France in 18 months. “If we are at war, as the government tells us, then the currency of war is intelligence, learning from experience, analysing failures and victories,” wrote Yann Marec in an editorial for the southern region’s Midi Libre newspaper. He was one of several calling for action, and not merely “the same old solemn declarations” from the government, as Le Figaro daily said. Some 30,000 people had thronged the palm tree-lined Promenade des Anglais on Thursday night to watch a fireworks display with their friends and families, but the night turned to horror as the truck left mangled bodies strewn in its wake In Nice, the seaside streets that would normally be bustling on a summer weekend were near-deserted, with teary residents making their way to the promenade to lay down flowers in memory of the dead. At least 10 children and teenagers were among the dead as well as tourists from the United States, Russia, Ukraine, Switzerland and Germany