A suspect has been charged with terror offences after the bombing of Port Authority in New York, during Monday morning’s rush hour commute. Akayed Ullah, a 27-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant, was taken into custody after detonating a homemade explosive strapped to his chest. The bomb did not kill anyone, but four were injured, including Ullah.
Ullah confessed to the attack, citing Christmas advertisements in the subway as his motivation to target the Port Authority, which serves about 225,000 travelers on an average weekday. He is currently in serious condition in a hospital, suffering burns where the bomb was strapped to him.
The BBC reported that Ullah, who was motivated by US air strikes on IS targets in Syria, was wearing a crude explosive device:
Reports say he used piping, nails, a 9-volt battery and Christmas lights wire to build the device. It was affixed to his body with Velcro straps. The suspect’s home in the New York City borough of Brooklyn is being searched. Police believe he acted alone.
Ullah emigrated to the United States in 2011 from Bangladesh, on a family visa. The last time he visited his home country was September, 2017, when he stayed for six weeks. His family, who remain in Bangladesh, are being interviewed so that authorities might understand how he was radicalized.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller admitted that the suspect was not on the FBI’s radar at all:
“This is somewhat characteristic of what we’re seeing across the world, which is somebody who turns up one day, out of the blue,” Miller said on Tuesday.
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