Ahmad Khan Rahami has been charged with planting bombs in New York and New Jersey.
Thirty-one people were injured when a bomb went off in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan on September 17.
Ahmad Khan Rahami was already charged by the state of New Jersey with the attempted murder of police, during his arrest.
The new federal charges include use of a weapon of mass destruction, bombing, destruction of property and use of a destructive device.
Unsealed in a Manhattan federal court, the charge sheet sheds new light on Ahmad Khan Rahami’s motivations.
Image source EPA
The man’s journal apparently expressed the wish to die a martyr, the criminal complaint revealed.
One passage said: “You [USA Government] continue your [unintelligible] slaught[er]” against the mujahideen, or holy warriors, be it Afghanistan, Iraq, Sham (Syria), Palestine.”
Another refers in glowing terms to Osama Bin Laden, Anwar al-Awlaki, a US-born Muslim cleric killed in a 2011 drone strike, and Nidal Hasan, a former Army officer who killed 13 people at a Texas Army base in 2009.
According to investigators, Ahmad Khan Rahami, who is 28, planted two bombs in Chelsea but one failed to detonate.
Another bomb exploded in a New Jersey seaside town earlier on the same day but no-one was hurt.
Ahmad Khan Rahami is also accused of leaving explosives in a discarded rucksack in a rubbish bin in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
He was preparing for months for the attack, the court documents suggest.
Ahmad Khan Rahami bought some bomb-making equipment on eBay and was filmed by a relative lighting “incendiary material” in a bin.
The series of bombings over the weekend have sparked a heated debate about national security between the two presidential candidates, days before their first televised debate.
Donald Trump has seized on the fact Ahmad Khan Rahami was born in Afghanistan to bolster his tough stance on immigration admissions.
However, Hillary Clinton has accused Donald Trump of enabling the terrorists by playing into their hands.
Ahmad Khan Rahami is still in hospital, recovering from injuries sustained during the shootout that led to his arrest.
Donald Trump has questioned the medical treatment and legal representation of New York bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami following his arrest.
Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old Afghan-born naturalized US citizen, was charged with five counts of attempted murder after a police shootout.
Donald Trump said it was a “sad situation” and underscores the country’s weak national security.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton said Donald Trump’s rhetoric only helped terrorist groups.
Image source fbi.gov
She told reporters at a news conference outside NYC: “The kinds of rhetoric and language that Mr. Trump has used is giving aid and comfort to our adversaries.”
Hillary Clinton added that she was the only candidate equipped with the experience of being “part of the hard decisions to take terrorists off the battlefield”.
Donald Trump fired back in a statement, saying that a Clinton presidency would only lead to “more attacks on our homeland and more innocent Americans being hurt and killed”.
Later at a campaign rally in Fort Myers, Florida, Donald Trump decried Ahmad Khan Rahami’s treatment for gunshot wounds and his legal representation, which is his constitutional right under the Fifth Amendment.
He said: “But the bad part, now we will give him amazing hospitalization. He will be taken care of by some of the best doctors in the world.
“He will be given a fully modern and updated hospital room. And he’ll probably even have room service knowing the way our country is.”
Donald Trump suggested that any punishment would be too lenient on Ahmad Khan Rahami. “What a sad situation,” he added.
The Republican nominee repeated calls for “extreme vetting” of new arrivals, which would include an assessment of whether potential immigrants share American values.
The country’s national security became a central issue in the election after a series of bombings over the weekend culminated with Ahmad Khan Rahami’s arrest on September 19.
US officials involved in the investigation have told media that Ahmad Khan Rahami had traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan in recent years.
But at a news conference on September 19, the FBI said they had as yet found no links to international terror groups.
Ahmad Khan Rahami, the man identified as the New York bombings suspect, is in custody after apparently being injured in a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey.
Footage showed Ahmad Khan Rahami apparently conscious on a stretcher. Two police officers were injured in the exchange.
Linden is four miles south-west of Elizabeth, New Jersey, where further devices were found late on September 18.
Image source fbi.gov
Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old Afghan-born US citizen, had been named by the FBI as a suspect in September 17 bombing in Manhattan.
His family home in Elizabeth was being searched by officers.
The bombing in the Chelsea district of Manhattan injured 29 people. An unexploded device was found nearby.
On September 17 a pipe bomb exploded in a New Jersey shore town ahead of a charity race. No-one was hurt.
President Barack Obama said officials did not believe there was a connection between events in New York and New Jersey and the stabbing attack in Minnesota, also on September 17, in which nine people were injured.
Ahmad Khan Rahami has been identified as suspect in September 17 explosion in the Chelsea area of New York City, officials say.
Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, is a naturalized US citizen from Afghanistan.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) has released a photograph of the suspect.
Image source fbi.gov
The blast injured 29 people. Both the detonated bomb, and a device found nearby, were shrapnel-filled pressure cookers, according to US media.
Investigators have warned the suspect, whose last known address was in Elizabeth, New Jersey, should be considered “armed and dangerous”.
The announcement comes after a backpack containing up to five suspicious devices was discovered near a train station in Elizabeth.
One of the devices exploded on September 19 when a bomb disposal robot tried to deactivate it.
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