San Bernardino, Calif.: In Pakistan, a relative of female shooter Tashfeen Malik says the woman apparently became a more zealous follower of the Muslim faith about three years ago.
Hifza Batool tells The Associated Press on Saturday other relatives have said that Malik, who was her step-niece, used to wear Western clothes but began wearing the hijab head covering or the all-covering burqa donned by the most conservative Muslim women about three years ago.
"I recently heard it from relatives that she has become a religious person and she often tells people to live according to the teachings of Islam," said Batool, 35, a private school teacher who lives in Karor Lal Esam, about 450 kilometers (280 miles) southwest of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.
Batool said she had never met Malik, who mostly grew up in Saudi Arabia with her family. Batool said the two families were not on speaking terms.
"Tashfreen Malik's parents are rich and we are poor and they don't like to meet with their poor relatives," she said.
Meanwhile, the Islamic State group's official radio station has aired a statement saying the mass shooting in California was carried out by two "supporters" of the extremist group.
While praising the attack, the group stopped short of claiming responsibility for it. The Al-Bayan report Saturday echoed a claim carried Friday by the IS-affiliated Aamaq news agency.
The radio report did not refer to Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik as actual members of the Islamic State group. Militants affiliated with IS who carry out attacks are commonly referred to in the group's propaganda as "lions," ''fighters" or "mujahedeen."
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