Ahmad Khan Rahami charged over New York bombings

US officials have formally charged Ahmad Khan Rahami over a series of bombs planted in New York and New Jersey over the weekend.

The new charges include "use of a weapon of mass destruction, bombing, destruction of property and use of a destructive device", the BBC reports. They have been added to five counts of attempted murder of a police officer stemming from yesterday's shoot-out with police.

Authorities say Rahami "planned the attacks for months" and "conducted a dry run just days before unleashing his assault", the New York Times reports.

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According to the charge sheet, Rahami "left 12 fingerprints on one of the bombs he planted and purchased materials for his bombs under his own name on eBay".

The document also includes quotes from a journal Rahami kept, containing anti-US and pro-jihadist statements.

Rahami's father, Mohammad, told reporters he had tipped off the FBI about his son in 2014, telling about "reaching out to the FBI after Ahmad stabbed his brother Nasim in an unprovoked attack and attacked his mother", the New York Daily News says.

The FBI confirmed an investigation had taken place, "none of which revealed ties to terrorism", it said.

Republican lawmaker Senator Lindsey Graham called for Rahami to be labelled an "enemy combatant", which would allow investigators to interrogate him without a lawyer present and without the protection of the right to remain silent.

However, former US attorney David Kelley, who prosecuted the 1993 World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef, said the idea was "absolutely absurd".

Ahmad Khan Rahami: Who is New York bomb suspect?

20 September

New York bomb suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami has been charged with five counts of attempted murder after being arrested following a shoot-out with police officers.

Rahami, 28, a naturalised US citizen from Afghanistan, is recovering in hospital with a gunshot wound to his leg.

He was detained after a gunfight in Linden, New Jersey, hours after he was identified by authorities as being "directly linked" to several explosive devices planted in New York and New Jersey over the weekend.

Rahami has not yet been charged in connection with the blasts, which injured 29 people, but has been charged with "second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon" and "second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose".

Captain James Sarnicki of the Linden Police Department said Rahami was discovered asleep in the doorway of a local bar. An officer recognised him and ordered him to show his hands.

Rahami allegedly shot the officer in the abdomen, hitting his bulletproof vest. When the officer returned fire, Rahami fled, "indiscriminately firing his weapon at passing vehicles", Sarnicki said.

After exchanging gunfire with several officers, Rahami was shot in the leg, arrested and taken to hospital for treatment.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed Rahami was the main suspect in the bomb attacks, which he described as terrorism, but he did not comment on the suspect's possible motivation.

"Based on the information we have now we have every reason to believe this was an act of terror. There is no other individual we're looking for this time," he added.

Rahami has been described as "a very friendly guy" by neighbours and customers of his family's fried-chicken shop.

He has reportedly travelled several times to Afghanistan and police are trying to establish whether he was radicalised or trained while abroad.

"One law enforcement official said that the bomb technicians involved in the investigation believed that Mr Rahami constructed all the devices," says the New York Times, "and that his handiwork raised the possibility that he had received training from someone with experience building improvised explosive devices."

US attacks: More bombs found after New York blast

19 September

Five explosive devices have been discovered at a railway station in New Jersey, after a series of attacks over the weekend put the US on high alert.

The bombs were found in a litter bin in Elizabeth, New Jersey, a city home to many New York commuters. "No cell phones or electronic timing devices were found on or near the devices," CNN reports.

The overnight discovery follows a bomb blast in the heart of New York on Saturday night, which injured 29 people.

The blast, caused by a bomb left in a bin in Chelsea, Manhattan, was described as "an act of terrorism" by the state's governor, Andrew Cuomo. But he said there was no indication that the explosion was linked to any international group.

"This is freedom, this is democracy and we're not going to allow them to take that from us," he said.

The city's mayor, Bill De Blasio said the bombing was an "intentional act" but stopped short of describing it as terrorism.

Witnesses told The Guardian they saw a "wall of flame" running "like a volcano" through the streets, forcing panicked residents to flee. It was an echo, in miniature, of the 9/11 terror attacks, whose 15th anniversary was commemorated the previous weekend.

Another device, which CNN described as a pressure cooker with wires attached to a cell phone, was discovered nearby. Earlier in the day, a pipe bomb had exploded in New Jersey, near the scene of a sponsored run in support of US Marines.

No organisation has claimed credit for the bombing, but five people have been arrested. "One of the officials said that all or most of them may have been from the same family and that they may have been on their way to the airport," the New York Times reports.

By contrast, a stabbing attack in a shopping mall in St Cloud, Minnesota, on Saturday was immediately claimed by Islamic State.

"The executor of the stabbing attacks in Minnesota yesterday was a soldier of the Islamic State and carried out the operation in response to calls to target the citizens of countries belonging to the crusader coalition," the Amaq news agency said.

Nine people were injured before the attacker was shot dead by off-duty police officer Jason Falconer.

The attacker "was dressed in a security uniform and reportedly made references to Allah", says the BBC.

While the investigation into all three incidents is still in its early stages, it is already affecting the US presidential election, which is less than two months away.

Speaking before any official statement had been released, Republican nominee Donald Trump told a rally in Colorado that the bomb attack proved "we better get real tough, folks".

He added: "It's a terrible thing that's going on in our world and in our country and we are going to get tough and smart and vigilant."