Pakistani Taliban 'claim NY failed bomb attack'
Updated on 02 May 2010
The Pakistani Taliban have allegedly claimed responsibility for planting the car bomb in New York's Times Square in a statement on a website frequently used by the militants.
The statement said it was to avenge the killing of two Islamists and "Muslim martyrs".
The Pakistani Taliban, Tehrik-i Taliban Pakistan (TTP) announced its responsibility for the New York attack in revenge for the two leaders al-Baghdadi and al-Mahajer and Muslim martyrs," said a statement on a website commonly used by Islamists.
The claim has not yet been verified, and the Pakistani Taliban have made bogus claims before. The White House has said they're looking at all possibilities still.
Security assessment: Tehrik-i Taliban's claim
"Tehrik-i Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attempted May 1 New York City Times Square vehicular bombing.
"If the claim is confirmed this would mark the first attack by the TTP against a target in the US, which the group has been threatening to do.
"This represents then the second al-Qaeda regional arm/affiliate to conduct an attack in the US since the end of Dec. 2009 with the last being the Delta attack by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
"The involvement of groups like AQAP and TTP in conducting attacks in the US, significantly complicates the threat environment in the US and raises the threat of more frequent and lower-level attacks occuring in the US while the threat of major 9-11 size events from core al-Qaeda remains.
"While it is possible that the attack was conceived, planned and implemented in the 13 days since the announcement of the death of al-Baghdadi and al-Muhajir, it is highly unlikely.
"As is normally the case with claims of responsibility, attacks are typically set in motion months or years in advance and if new developments occur in the immediate period before execution, groups almost always incorporate them into the claim even though the group would have had no way of knowing it was going to happen when they decided to launch the attack."
- analysis by the IntelCenter.
Earlier, the mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg has praised an alert T-shirt vendor and a mounted police officer for spotting the car bomb and avoiding a "deadly event".
The car bomb was place in a parked Nissan Pathfinder, parked on Saturday evening in Times Square. It was parked on 45th street and Broadway with its engine running and hazard lights flashing
The alarm was first raised by a T-shirt vendor who grew suspicious of the unoccupied vehicle at 6.30pm (2230 GMT).
Alerting a mounted police officer, the policeman noticed smoke coming out of the SUV and could smell gunpowder.
Residential and commercial buildings were evacuated and thousands of tourists and passers by were moved off the street. The bomb was located close to a theatre showing the Lion King.
Bomb squad officers moved in and defused the bomb and were seen removing containers of gasoline.
"The NYPD bomb squad has rendered safe an improvised car bomb," said New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.
Bomb investigators found three propane tanks, consumer grade fireworks, two filled five gallon (19 liter) gasoline containers, two clocks, batteries in each of the clocks, electrical wire and other components.
A locked metal box resembling a gun locker had also been removed and taken to a safe location to be detonated, he said.
Kelly said the vehicle had tinted windows and was seen on police surveillance cameras travelling west along 45th street. Police were now looking at footage from other cameras in the area.
The vehicles licence plates no match the vehicle and police have already spoken to the man who owned the vehicle's license plates.
The man said the plates belonged to a truck that he had sent to a junk yard and police were now attempting to speak to the junk yard owner.
'An amateurish bomb'
Mayor Michael Bloomberg told a news conference that "we have no idea who did this and why."
He said the bomb appeared to have been made in an amateurish manner.
"We are very lucky. Thanks to alert New Yorkers and professional police officers, we avoided what could have been a very deadly event."
In a statement the New York Governor called the failed bomb a "terrorist attack" but did not specify whether he suspected foreign or domestic sources.
The IntelCenter said it was "too early" to determine the group of individuals behind the attempted attack:
"It may have been the work of a jihadist group such as al-Qaeda or just as easily could have been the work of a domestic group or individual with no connection to any jihadist agenda."
U.S. President Barack Obama commended the "quick action" by New York police in dealing with the incident and said they had done "excellent work" in responding.
"This wasn't make believe. This wasn't a false alarm. This was the real deal -- to hurt people," said Fire Commissioner Sal Cassano, adding that the force of the bomb had it gone off could have taken down the front of a building.
The vehicle was removed from Times Square by authorities at about 6 a.m. (1000 GMT).
Police patrols in the rest of New York City had not found anything suspicious, the mayor reported.
