Times Square attempt was aimed to cause mass casualties

NEW YORK - US officials were sceptical about the Pakistan Taliban’s claims of involvement in the Times Square failed car bombing as a noted think tank said the aborted terror attack appeared to be the work of unskilled attackers who intended to cause mass casualties.

Federal and local officials told the New York Times that there was no evidence to support a claim of responsibility issued on Sunday by a Pakistani Taliban group.

But strategic think tank Stratfor said the bombing attempt appeared to be the work of an unskilled attacker or group of attackers who had intended to cause mass casualties, but lacked the skills to conduct an effective attack.

Noting several similarities to the attacks in London on June 29, 2007, it said if this failed attack was conducted by grassroots jihadists or a lone wolf, it is likely that the attackers will attempt a follow-on attack unless they are found and apprehended.

The materials found in the SUV Nissan Pathfinder - gasoline, propane, firecrackers and simple alarm clocks - also included eight bags of a granular substance, later determined to be non-explosive grade of fertilizer, inside a 55-inch-tall metal gun locker.

Had it exploded “it would have been, in all likelihood, a good possibility of people being killed, windows shattered, but not resulting in a building collapse,” said Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman.

Investigators are focusing on examining the Nissan Pathfinder and also combing through hours of surveillance footage in the area for possible clues.

The first video released by authorities showed an image of a man, who police say is possibly connected to the attempted bombing, changing his shirt along a New York street. A balding man with dark hair is seen removing a shirt and putting it in a bag before walking out of the camera’s view from inside a restaurant.

In another video, a man “is seen, we believe, running north on Broadway,” New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told CNN’s “American Morning” on Monday. He said the video was obtained from a tourist.

Of the first video, Kelly said it “shows a white male in his 40s, in Shubert Alley, looking back in the direction of West 45th Street” in a “furtive manner.” But Kelly acknowledged that the actions of the man “could be perfectly innocent.”

The video was captured about a half block from where police said the Pathfinder containing bomb-making materials was found Saturday evening on West 45th Street in the city’s iconic Times Square area.