Early Monday morning, an attacker detonated a homemade pipe bomb strapped to his body in the middle of Manhattan’s busiest subway corridor near Times Square. The attack caused mass chaos and resulted in five injuries. The scene caused thousands to flee and hundreds of police officers to arrive at the area at 7:20am. The homemade device failed to fully detonate and the attacker was the only one who was seriously injured. Law enforcement officials stated that the attacker had an improvised low-tech explosive device and identified the would-be suicide bomber as Akayed Ullah, 27.
Ullah told investigators that he set off his bomb in retaliation for United States airstrikes on ISIS targets in Syria and elsewhere. He chose the area due to Christmas-themed posters that were placed at the location, much like the motive that caused strikes in Europe previously. What we know about the suspect is that he pledged allegiance to ISIS. He held a Taxi & Limousine Commission license from March 2012 to March 2015, after which the license was not renewed. It is unclear “whether he drove for any particular base, or whether he simply got the license but didn’t drive at all,” TLC spokesman Allan Fromberg said.
CNN spoke with his neighbor and he stated that “he wasn’t friendly at all. The family was very quiet themselves. They don’t talk to nobody. They just stay there.” Adding to that, his tenants reported hearing “screaming and yelling” coming from Ullah’s home the last two nights. The tenants did not call the police, he stated. Ullah sustained burns to his hands and abdomen and was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he is being treated for lacerations as well. The five people that are being treated for minor injuries are in area hospitals nearby.
This was the third attack in New York City since September 2016, and the second in two months. Unfortunately, this attack is coming only weeks after 8 people were killed in a truck attack along a Hudson River bike path.
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