Bombing suspect studied at seminary linked to Taliban
Ahmad Rahami, the man suspected of placing bombs in New York and New Jersey last weekend, spent time at a religious seminary in Pakistan closely associated with the Afghan Taliban, according to a Pakistani government official.
The 28-year-old, who was born in Afghanistan but became a United States citizen, spent time at the Kaan Kuwa Naqshbandi madrasa during two visits to Pakistan, a security official working for the government of Balochistan province said.
Rahami spent three weeks in 2011 receiving ‘‘lectures and Islamic education’’ at the school in Kuchlak, a dusty cluster of villages 20 kilometres north of Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, he said.
Kuchlak is a well-known hub for the Taliban. It is home to many madrasas.
US officials have revealed basic details about Rahami’s two visits to Pakistan. The first was in 2011, when he spent a couple of months in Quetta and got married. He spent almost a year there in 2013, when he also made a car journey to Afghanistan.
But very little information has emerged from inside Pakistan about what Rahami did during his visits.
The government official, who did not wish to be named, said Pakistani security agencies had tried to ‘‘hide all the details of his visits to Quetta’’ and to keep as much information as possible out of the media.
He said Rahami also visited other sensitive areas in the province, including Surkhab and Nushki, where former Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor was killed by a US drone strike in May.
A Western expert on the Taliban said Abdul Samad, the Afghan owner of the Kuchlack madrasa, was an important local figure.
‘‘The madrasa is a place where you have multiple Afghan Taliban going there and hanging out in [Samad’s] court, as well as active ISI officers,’’ he said, referring to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, an army-run spy agency.
‘‘Samad is the kind of person who should have been shut down long ago but enjoys a high degree of protection,’’ he said.
A Karachi-based cleric said the school was a sizeable operation, with more than 200 students.