The group's declaration, in an online radio broadcast, came three days after U.S.-born Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his wife Tashfeen Malik, 29, a native of Pakistan, carried out the attack on a holiday party for civil servants in San Bernardino, about 60 miles (100 km) east of Los Angeles.
The two died hours later in a shootout with police.
U.S. government sources have said Malik and her husband may have been inspired by Islamic State, but there was no evidence the attack was directed by the militant group or that the organization even knew who they were. The party the couple attacked was for workers in the same local government agency that employed Farook.
If Wednesday's mass shooting proves to have been the work of people inspired by Islamist militants, as investigators now suspect, it would mark the deadliest such attack in the United States since Sept. 11, 2001.
Two ethnic Chechen brothers inspired by al Qaeda killed three people and injured 264 in a bombing attack on the Boston Marathon in April 2013.
"Two followers of Islamic State attacked several days ago a center in San Bernadino in California," the group's daily online radio broadcast al-Bayan said on Saturday.
An English-language version of the broadcast was later released calling the attackers "soldiers" of Islamic State, rather than "followers" as in the original Arabic version. It was unclear if the English version was claiming them as members, or why there was an inconsistency.
The broadcast came a day after Facebook confirmed that comments praising Islamic State were posted around the time of the mass shooting to an account on the social media website established by Malik under an alias.
However, it was uncertain whether the comments were posted by Malik herself or someone with access to her page.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
"There was a pledge of allegiance," David Bowdich, assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Los Angeles office, told a news conference about a reported loyalty pledge posted on Facebook by Malik on the day of the attack.
A Facebook Inc spokesman said the profile in question was removed by the company on Thursday for violating its community standards barring promotion or praise for "acts of terror." He declined to elaborate on the material.
CNN and other news media outlets reported the Facebook posts on Malik's page included a pledge of allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
"Ye are now investigating these horrific acts as an act of terrorism," Bowdich told reporters.
He said the FBI hoped examination of data retrieved from two smashed cellphones and other electronic devices seized in the investigation would lead to a motive for the attack.
source: http://www.reuters.com/`
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