New York Terror Suspect Inspired By Isis

The suspect being held after an attempted terror attack at New York City’s main bus terminal has said it was in retaliation for US attacks on so-called Islamic State, US media say.

According to a BBC report, Akayed Ullah, a 27-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant, was injured when a “low-tech explosive device” went off at the Port Authority terminal in Manhattan.

Police say Mr Ullah chose the location because of its Christmas posters.

Three other people suffered minor wounds in the explosion on Monday.

Mr Ullah is reported to be in a serious condition in hospital after suffering burns when the device, which was strapped to his body, exploded in an underpass at the busy terminal.

He told police investigators he had been inspired by Christmas terror attacks in Europe and selected the Port Authority bus terminal after seeing a number of festive posters on the subway walls, US media report.

Mr Ullah said the planned attack had been motivated by US air strikes on IS targets in Syria and elsewhere, the New York Times reports.

CNN separately reports that Mr Ullah also cited recent Israeli action in Gaza after rockets were fired at Israel on Friday.

A photo circulating on social media shows a man, said to be Mr Ullah, lying on the ground with his clothes ripped and lacerations on his upper body.

The suspect’s home in the New York City borough of Brooklyn is being searched, the New York Times reports.

He may have been recently working at an electrical company, according to the New York Post.

Mr Ullah emigrated to the US on a family visa in 2011 from the Chittagong area of Bangladesh. The Bangladeshi government says he had no criminal record in the country, which he last visited in September.