Boston bombing suspects targeted New York City

Washington, April 26 (IANS/RIA Novosti) The two brothers suspected of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombing planned to follow up the attack by detonating as many as six explosive devices in New York City’s Times Square, officials said.

Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had “planned to travel to Manhattan to detonate their remaining explosives in Times Square,” New York City police chief Raymond Kelly told a news conference Thursday, citing information provided by investigators.

Dzhokhar first told investigators that he and his brother were headed to New York City to party after the marathon attack, but when questioned later he said they changed plans and intended another attack there, Kelly said.

The older Tsarnaev brother, Tamerlan, 26, died during a shootout with police. A few hours later his younger brother Dzhokhar, 19, was captured after a manhunt that shut down much of Boston and its surrounding areas. He remains in a Boston hospital where he is being treated for injuries to his head, neck, legs and hand.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that the brothers had planned to head north to bomb Times Square, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

“We were informed by the FBI that the surviving attacker revealed that New York City was next on their list of targets,” Bloomberg said.

“He told the FBI that he and his brother intended to drive to New York to detonate explosives in Times Square.”

Dzhokhar has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction, which could carry the death penalty.

The Tsarnaev brothers are suspected of having planted the homemade bombs that exploded at the Boston Marathon finish line April 15, killing three people and injuring more than 200.

The suspects’ father, a resident of the turbulent region of Dagestan in southern Russia, said he plans to visit the US “as soon as possible”.

–IANS/RIA Novosti

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