Islamic State quotes Trump in clip praising Brussels attacks

A video released Thursday by the radical Islamic State group celebrating the attacks in Brussels cites US presidential candidate Donald Trump.

The Arabic video, released by the al-Battar media group, a propaganda wing of IS, features images of Trump and audio footage of a statement he gave in the wake of Tuesday’s deadly onslaught, which was claimed by the group.

“The crusade jets including the Belgian [sic] are still bombing the Muslims in Iraq and Levant in the day and the night, killing children, women, old, and destroying mosques and schools,” a narrator in the video says, according to Newsweek’s translation, in an apparent reference to Belgium’s membership in the anti-IS military alliance.

The video, titled “The Exile of Islam and Brussels Attacks,” goes on to play an audio of the Trump statement, in which the Republican candidate can be heard saying: “Brussels was one of the great cities — one of the most beautiful cities of the world 20 years ago — and safe. And now it’s a horror show — an absolute horror show.”

In other comments on the attacks, Trump had invoked the use of torture and the closing of borders in order to prevent terror attacks in the US.

The twin attacks Tuesday — in Brussels’ airport and in a metro station — killed 31 people and injured some 300.

Belgian federal prosecutors said six people were arrested Thursday in a series of police raids in Brussels.

The arrests come as Belgian ministers under fire for intelligence failings over the blasts admitted “errors” and offered to quit.

AFP contributed to this report.