FBI probes 'terror' links as toll in New Orleans truck-ramming rises to 15

A US army veteran with an Islamic State flag and "hellbent" on carnage steered a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year revellers in New Orleans on Wednesday, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens, officials said.

The FBI identified the attacker as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old US citizen from Texas. He appeared to have been a real estate agent working in Houston and had served as an IT specialist in the military.

Officials said they were searching for accomplices but gave few details.

Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick described Jabbar as a "terrorist," while the FBI said "an ISIS flag was located in the vehicle," using another name for the Islamic State jihadist group, and saying it was probing his links with such organizations.

US President Joe Biden, describing the attack as "despicable," said Jabbar had posted videos online hours before "indicating that he was inspired by ISIS."

Officials said a manhunt was underway, with FBI agent Alethea Duncan warning that authorities "do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible."

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said: "We're hunting some bad people down."

An FBI spokesman told AFP that 15 people had been killed, citing the New Orleans coroner's office.

- Aiming for 'carnage' -

Police said the incident began around 3:15 am (0915 GMT) near Bourbon Street in the heart of the French Quarter, packed with people celebrating the start of 2025.

The suspect drove a white Ford F-150 electric pickup into a group of pedestrians, then exited and was killed in a shootout with police -- two of whom were wounded. Two homemade bombs were found and neutralized, the FBI said.

"This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could," Kirkpatrick told reporters.

Driving at "very high speed" and in a "very intentional" manner, "he was hellbent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did," Kirkpatrick said.

The wounded officers were in stable condition and Kirkpatrick said they would recover.

The Pentagon said Jabbar had served in the army as a human resources specialist and an IT specialist from 2007 to 2015, and then in the army reserve until 2020.

He deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 until January 2010, an army spokesperson said.

Biden said that law enforcement agencies were also probing any possible links between the attack and the explosion later on Wednesday of a Tesla Cybertruck outside a hotel owned by US President-elect Donald Trump in Las Vegas that killed one person.

"Thus far, there's nothing to report on that score," he said, as police in Las Vegas said they believed it was an "isolated" incident.

The vehicles in the two incidents were both rented through the popular car-sharing app Turo. The sheriff in Las Vegas said that was a "coincidence... that we have to continue to look in to."

A spokesperson for the app, used by millions of people in the United States, said they were working with law enforcement.

"We do not believe that either renter... had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat," the spokesperson told AFP.

- Horror in famous neighborhood -

In the small hours of the year's first day, revelers were celebrating in the French Quarter, renowned for its bars, restaurants, jazz history and Mardi Gras parties.

Bystander Zion Parsons said the revelry turned into a scene of horror.

"The best way I can describe it is truly a war zone," he told CNN. "There were bodies and blood and all the trash."

"People were terrified, running, screaming," he said.

Another witness, Jimmy Cothran, told ABC that the mayhem was "insanity."

"We instantly counted, I'd say, 10 bodies -- six clearly, graphically deceased, and the others yelling with no one around," he said.

New Orleans is one of the most heavily visited destinations in the United States and will stage the NFL's Super Bowl game -- one of the biggest sporting events of the year -- on February 9.

The attack came just hours before the city was due to host the Sugar Bowl, a major college football game. That game was delayed until Thursday, officials said.