Islamic State praise for the ‘deadly power’ of vans

ISLAMIC State encouraged would-be terrorists to hire vehicles like the one used in last night’s attack in a magazine article.

In a November issue of its Rumiyah propaganda sheet, the terror group published a mocked-up picture of a Hertz truck alongside an article about vehicle massacres.

The article, headlined ‘Just Terror Tactics’ included a picture of the vehicle next to a Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. It read: ‘Very few actually comprehend the deadly and destructive capability of the motor vehicle and its capacity of reaping large number of casualties if used in a premeditated manner.

‘All so-called “civilian” (and low-security) parades and gatherings are fair game and more devastating to Crusader nations.’

It was one method of attack used by Westminster Bridge killer Khalid Masood in March, while a Hertz truck was used by the London Bridge gang to mow down pedestrians in June before they continued their rampage on foot.

Google has previously come under fire for displaying links to guides on how to carry out truck and van attacks.

Hours after Masood’s attack, this newspaper found Islamic State terror manuals through the search engine. One manual included a section on using vehicles as weapons, published before the vehicle attacks in Nice, Berlin and London.

Another IS document read: ‘Vehicles are like knives, as they are extremely easy to acquire. But unlike knives ... vehicles arouse absolutely no doubts.’

Speaking shortly after the Westminster attack in March, a spokesman from Google said: ‘We remove links to illegal content in search when reported to us.’