‘Al Qaeda twist’ in twin blasts

Rahami’s notebook shows he was probably not inspired by the IS.

The police have found new clues about the New York and New Jersey bombings suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami.

He could have been influenced by the late Yemeni-American preacher Anwar al-Awlaki, who was a spokesman for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Awlaki, who was killed in a Central Intelligence Agency drone strike in Yemen in September 2011, had personally directed the plot to take down a plane over Detroit on Christmas Day in 2009 by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, or the “underwear bomber.”

According to CNN, a notebook found on Rahami contains ramblings about terrorists and mentions Awlaki. The notebook, which also referred to the Boston Marathon bombers, had a bullet hole. Interestingly, the reference to Awlaki lends credibility to the theory that the bombings were not inspired by the Islamic State (IS).

Authorities also want to speak to Rahami’s wife, who had left the US a few days before the bombings, according to law enforcement official. Authorities are working with officials in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates to gain access to her, the CNN reported further.

Meanwhile, the police said on Tuesday that Rahami is in critical but stable condition in a hospital after being wounded in a shootout with the police in Linden, New Jersey, on Monday.

“Critical but stable”, New York police commissioner James O’Neill told CBS News when asked if the suspect would likely survive.

Rahami was shot multiple times and underwent surgery on Monday, the local prosecutor said. He has been charged on five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and two unlawful weapons counts.

The police are still probing the motives for Saturday’s bombings in the New York neighbourhood of Chelsea, which injured 29 people, and a pipe blast at a US Marine Corps race on the Jersey shore. Officials say that Rahami travelled “extensively” to Afghanistan and Pakistan, but have not yet found evidence linking him to militant groups such as the IS or the Taliban.