US attacker left note claiming IS allegiance - reports

Sayfullah Habibullahevic Saipov, the suspected driver who killed eight people in New York. AFP photo

The man who drove his pickup truck down a crowded a New York bike path killing eight people left a note claiming allegiance to the Islamic State group, US media reported Wednesday.

The New York Times, citing two law enforcement officials, said that handwritten notes in Arabic were found near the vehicle.

However investigators have not discovered evidence showing direct ties between the suspect -- an Uzbek national identified as Sayfullo Saipov -- and the IS jihadist group.

The New York Post said the suspect's notes found inside the truck pledged allegiance to IS, and that investigators also found a picture of an Islamic State group flag.

Tuesday's truck rampage struck in broad daylight just blocks from the memorial to the deadly September 11, 2001 attacks.

The truck struck in an upscale neighborhood on the West Side of Lower Manhattan, close to schools as children and their parents prepared to celebrate Halloween.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio in a press conference described it as an "act of terror and a particularly cowardly act of terror."