A disjointed terrorist operative in 2016 planned to attack the new York metro and Times Square

The United States security forces, in a joint operation with Canada, Pakistan and the Philippines, dismantled in the summer of last year a terrorist operative who planned to detonate bombs in the new York subway and the Plaza de ...

A disjointed terrorist operative in 2016 planned to attack the new York metro and Times Square
The United States security forces, in a joint operation with Canada, Pakistan and the Philippines, dismantled in the summer of last year a terrorist operative who planned to detonate bombs in the new York subway and the square of Times Square, also had Planned to shoot civilians in concerts. The three suspects, who claimed to act on behalf of the Islamic State, were arrested. The defendants are Abdulrahman the Bahnasawy, 19 years of age and Canadian nationality, Talha Haroon, a 19-year-old American citizen and resident in Pakistan, and Russel Salic, 37 years and Filipino origin. The three individuals, according to the declassified summary this Friday, communicated through e-messaging applications over the Internet. The intention was to make the attacks in new York coinciding with the celebration of Ramadan in support of the cause of ISIS. The Bahnasawy was responsible for acquiring the necessary materials to manufacture the bombs and to find a place, not far from the city, where they could mount the explosives. Haroon made plans to fly to the U.S. to help him execute the attacks. Haroon came in parallel with experts in explosives handling. Salic was in charge of financing the operation. The terrorist plot was dismantled in May 2016. The Bahnasawy was arrested in new Jersey, arriving from a trip from Canada, and pleaded guilty. Haroon was detained by the Pakistani authorities four months later and Salic in April of this year. The Department of Justice details that about the defendants weigh up to seven crimes, some of them susceptible to being punished with life imprisonment. Crimes include conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism conspiracy to attack in a public place or in the transport system. The dismantling of the terrorist operation was made possible by the joint action of the National Security Division of the Department of Justice, the federal Investigation Agency and the new York Police Anti-Terrorist unit. They were also in coordination with detectives in Los Angeles (California) and Denver (Colorado) as well as the police from Canada, Pakistan and the Philippines.