IS may regret claiming Orlando killer as own

Omar Mateen’s alcohol use and conflicted sexuality are at odds with the terrorists’ religious credo, but losing in Iraq and Syria, it is desperate for a win, say Lori Hinnant and Sarah El Deeb

IT took just a few hours for the Islamic State group’s opportunistic propaganda machine to capitalise on the latest bloodshed, in Florida and in France, with messages claiming the two attackers as its own.

It may take the group longer to sort through the implications of a killer whose backstory of conflicted sexuality and heavy drinking is at odds with its carefully crafted public image of its fighters.