Federal prosecutors have charged Ahmad Khan Rahami, the main suspect in the New York-New Jersey bombings with using a weapon of mass destruction.
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The FBI has released an image of two men who took a suitcase that held a bomb that did not explode in New York City.
Rahami left 12 fingerprints on one of the bombs he planted and bought materials for his bombs under his own name on eBay over the summer, according to federal charging documents.
According to affidavit, Rahami’s journal concludes by stating: “Inshallah [God willing] the sounds of the bombs will be heard in the streets”.
Law enforcement recovered a “rambling” journal on Rahami when he was captured that referenced Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, the ISIS spokesman killed in a US airstrike, and Anwar al-Awlaki, the American al-Qaida cleric killed in a drone strike, authorities have said.
Tuesday’s charges are related to a pressure-cooker bomb that went off Saturday night in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan that injured dozens, a pipe bomb explosion that morning in Seaside Park, N.J., and a collection of pipe bombs discovered Sunday at a train station in Elizabeth, N.J. “Death to your oppression”. His father told reporters that he contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation and expressed his concern after the dispute.
Police investigating the bombings in NY and New Jersey have been saying for several days they were looking for the men, who they stressed were being sought as potential witnesses in the case, not as suspects.
Federal investigators said during a news conference Wednesday the men are wanted as witnesses only.
The FBI has said the suitcase could be a “really rich environment” for evidence and a “key part” of the investigation, she said.
He received USA citizenship in 2011 and travelled to Afghanistan and Pakistan and stayed there for long periods of time during the past five years.
The complaint said his writings praised Nidal Hasan, who shot and killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas and referred to the former leader of al-Qaeda and author of the 9/11 terrorist attacks as “Brother Osama Bin Laden”.
Rahami’s wife is thought to be a Pakistani national.
Ahmad Khan Rahami’s wife, Asia Rahami, arrived in the USA from Dubai Wednesday night, law enforcement sources confirmed to CBS News.
A New York Police Department deputy commissioner says federal investigators are likely reviewing their previous contacts with a 28-year-old man arrested in connection with a pair of bombings in New Jersey and New York.
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David Duerden, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi, was unable to confirm or deny reports that Rahami’s wife had been questioned in the United Arab Emirates, which is home to a large expatriate Pakistani population and has airports that offer daily flights to Pakistan.
