Charges unsealed in thwarted 2016 plot for attacks in New York City

Oct. 7 (UPI) -- U.S. Federal officials unsealed charges against three men accused of plotting to carry out several attacks throughout New York in 2016.

The U.S. Department of Justice said police thwarted a plot by three men who intended to detonate bombs in Times Square and the New York City subway system and shoot civilians at various concert venues during Ramadan last year.

One of the men, 19-year-old Canadian citizen Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy, was arrested in New Jersey while preparing to carry out the attack and has already pleaded guilty to his involvement in the plot. The other two men, Talha Haroon, a 19-year-old U.S. citizen living in Pakistan and Russell Salic, 37, a Philippines citizen, were arrested overseas and the U.S. is working to have them extradited to stand trial.

The DOJ said El Bahnasawy purchased bomb-making materials and helped rent a cabin for building the devices, while Haroon met with bomb experts in Pakistan and Salic wired money to fund the plot.

The trio primarily used internet messaging applications to plot the attacks, and El Bahnasawy and Haroon declared their allegiance to the Islamic State while communicating with an undercover officer posing as an IS supporter, the department said.

El Bahnasawy and Haroon told the undercover officer of their intention to carry out attacks similar to those in Paris and Brussels and El Bahnasawy said he was in contact with an IS affiliate about obtaining official sanction for the attacks, the department said.

While communicating with the undercover officer El Bahnasawy said he planned to travel from Canada to New York in May to "create the next 9/11."

"We seriously need a car bomb at Times Square," he told the undercover officer. "Look at these crowds of people!"

El Bahnasawy also stated his desire to "shoot up concerts cuz they kill a lot of people."

"We just walk in with guns in our hands," he said. "That's how the Paris guys did it."

Haroon identified Times Square as "a perfect spot to hit them" and expressed desire to "kill...them in thousands" and "leave no one standing."

He also described subways as a "perfect" target and said they should shoot as many passengers as possible including "women or kids" adding if they got trapped or ran out of bullets "we let the vests go off."

El Bahnasawy is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 12, 2017. The charges against the three man could carry up to three life sentences and up to 70 years in prison.