In an audio statement broadcast by Albayan Radio, Islamic State claims responsibility for the Orlando nightclub shooting that killed 50 people.
“Allah helped the brother Omar Mateen, one of THE Caliphate soldiers in the U.S, commit a ‘ghazwah’ (incursion) where he managed to go in among a group of crusaders at a nightclub for the followers of Lot in Orlando in Florida. God helped him kill and injure 100 of them. This ‘ghazwah’ (incursion) is the largest in the U.S. in terms of death toll after the incursion of Manhattan 16 years ago. Thank God,” says a member of Islamic State, overlaid with photographs.
The gunman, Omar Mateen, a New York-born Florida resident and U.S. citizen who was the son of Afghan immigrants, was shot and killed by police who stormed the club early Sunday morning with armored cars after a three-hour siege.
Mateen, 29, called emergency services during the shooting and pledged allegiance to the leader of the militant Islamic State group, officials said. His father said on Sunday his son was not radicalized, but indicated Mateen had strong anti-gay feelings. His ex-wife described him as mentally unstable and violent toward her.
(The broadcast by the so-called Islamic State can be heard HERE.)