Nearly 1,000 extra police officers are to be deployed on New York’s streets to protect Americans after a bomb went off in Manhattan injuring 29 people
Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo said that officers would be visible at subways, airports and bus terminals for peace of mind so New Yorkers could go about their daily business without concern.
The city is on high alert after the ‘homemade bomb’ hidden in a toolbox exploded on 23rd Street on Saturday night in the fashionable Chelsea district as people enjoyed the New York city nightlife.
A second device, attached to a mobile phone, was “safely removed” by police from 27th Street.
The two devices are both reportedly shrapnel-filled pressure cookers – similar to the bombs used at the 2013 Boston marathon.
The FBI said it stopped a “vehicle of interest” in Brooklyn on Sunday but made no arrests. Five other people were arrested and held in custody for questioning, officials said.
But a spokesperson said no-one had been charged and the investigation is continuing.
Investigators are also examining a suspicious device found near a train station in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Mr Cuomo said it was an “act of terrorism” but it is not being linked to any international groups at this stage.
He reassured New Yorkers that “whoever placed these bombs, we will find, and they will be brought to justice, period”.
Mr Cuomo told a press conference: “A bomb exploding in New York is an act of terror but not limited to international terrorism. That’s how we are going to consider it.”
He added: “We have no reason to believe at this time there is any further immediate threat but just to err on the side of caution we will be deploying close to an additional 1,000 New York state police and national guard people to police the bus terminals, airports and subway stations.
“We will not let these type of people and these type of threats disrupt our life in New York. That’s what they want to do, we’re not going to let them do it.”
When asked if investigators thought the bomb could have been planted by a Daesh fanatic, the Governor said: “No-one has taken credit, there have been no international groups that have put out statements that are connecting them with this action.”
Police said 24 victims were taken to hospital after the Manhattan blast – one with a serious puncture wound.
“When you see the damage, we were fortunate there were no fatalities,” added Mr Cuomo.
Meanwhile an attacker who stabbed nine shoppers at a US shopping mall was a “soldier of the Islamic state”, Daesh has confirmed.
The knifeman – whose victims all survived – was responding to the terrorist group’s call for attacks on civilians in western countries, it is reported.
He was shot dead by an of-duty police officer after the rampage at the Crossroads Center in St Cloud, Minnesota on Saturday (September 17).
The officer, Jason Falconer, was praised by St Cloud mayor Dave Kleis for “preventing additional injuries and loss of life”.
The attacker, dressed as a security guard, was named as 22-year-old Somali-born student Dahir Adan.
He made references to Allah and asked at least one victim – the youngest who was 15 – if they were Muslim before stabbing them.
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