Islamic State Says The New York Attacker Is A ‘Soldier Of The Caliphate’

The attacker who killed eight people in a truck rampage in New York was a "soldier" of the Islamic State group, the jihadists said today, according to a US-based monitoring group.

"One of the soldiers of the Islamic State attacked a number of crusaders on a street in New York City," said an article in the latest issue of the group's al-Naba weekly newspaper, according to the SITE Intelligence Group.

Sayfullo Saipov, 29, an immigrant from Uzbekistan, is charged with terrorism offences after allegedly driving a rented pickup truck down a mile-long stretch of bike path in Manhattan.

The charging document says he confessed to acting in the name of IS and “felt good about what he had done” even demanding to hang an IS flag in his hospital room.

Police said he appeared to have followed very closely "the instructions" that IS put out to its followers on social media. (PTI)