by Pamela Engel

It’s not clear yet who is responsible for the truck attack that
killed dozens at a Bastille Day celebration in Nice, France. But
terrorist groups have long been calling for supporters to attack
“infidels” with cars. At least 70 people were killed in the southern French city of Nice when a truck ran into a crowd celebrating the country’s national holiday on Thursday night.

The earliest information from the attack does point to terrorist
involvement. US President Barack Obama said that it appears to be a
“horrific terrorist attack.” The truck was reportedly loaded with firearms and grenades, and US officials told The Daily Beast that the terrorist group ISIS — aka the Islamic State, ISIL, or Daesh — is a top suspect in the attacks.

ISIS and Al Qaeda have publicly called for supporters to use vehicles as weapons. The Institute for the Study of War noted in a 2014 report that ISIS spokesman Abu Mohammad al-Adnani instructed supporters in a speech in September of that year.

He said:

“If you are not able to find an IED or a
bullet, then single out the disbelieving American, Frenchman, or any of
their allies. Smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife,
or run him over with your car, or throw him down from a high place, or
choke him, or poison him.”

And a 2014 ISIS video
aimed at French-speaking recruits encouraged supporters to attack
people in France with cars and other easily accessible weapons.

“If you are unable to come to Syria or Iraq, then pledge allegiance
in your place — pledge allegiance in France,” a French ISIS member says
in the video. “Operate within France.”

The man then goes on to mention cars specifically: “There are weapons
and cars available and targets ready to be hit. … Kill them and spit
in their faces and run over them with your cars.”

Al Qaeda has also put out global calls to attack Westerners with cars.

In the second issue of its English-language magazine Inspire, the
terrorist group referred to pickup trucks as “the ultimate mowing
machine.”

“The idea is to use a pickup truck as a mowing machine, not to mow
grass but mow down the enemies of Allah,” the magazine article states.

Pro-ISIS accounts on the messaging app Telegram, which the terrorist
group uses as a platform to disseminate its message, have been
celebrating the Nice attack. But the group has yet to make any claim of
responsibility.

ISIS, in particular, has increasingly been relying on external
attacks as it has been losing territory in the Middle East, where its
self-declared “caliphate” lies.

When the terrorist group first rampaged across Iraq and Syria
claiming territory, it encouraged supporters to travel to the Islamic
State, but recently ISIS rhetoric has shifted to focus on encouraging
people to mount attacks in their home countries.

Sometimes these attacks are directed by ISIS leadership, but
sometimes they are carried out by lone actors who don’t have any
significant contact with ISIS members.

Mia Bloom, a terrorism expert at Georgia State University, told
Business Insider that it’s too soon to tell who’s responsible for the
Nice attack.

She wrote in an email:

“It is true that Isis has returned many
fighters to France for these kinds of attacks. It is equally true that
if Al Qaeda felt ignored it might plan an elaborate operation to get
itself back in the media spotlight and back on the map. My research
showed groups might compete with each other for ever-[more] spectacular
attacks.”