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U.S. Says Three Men Charged With Plotting New York Terror Attacks For IS


People making their way on Times Square in New York City in this April 25, 2013, file photo. U.S. prosecutors say three arrested suspects plotted to bomb the iconic square and the New York subway for the Islamic State group.
People making their way on Times Square in New York City in this April 25, 2013, file photo. U.S. prosecutors say three arrested suspects plotted to bomb the iconic square and the New York subway for the Islamic State group.

U.S. authorities say three men have been arrested on charges of plotting attacks in New York City for the extremist Islamic State (IS) group.

Federal prosecutors in New York said on October 6 that the planned attacks, which were thwarted by law-enforcement authorities, included bombings in New York City's Times Square and subway system, as well as shooting people at concert venues.

The attacks were to be carried out during the Islamic holy month of Ramadhan in the summer of 2016, prosecutors said in a statement on the unsealing of the charges.

The suspects include a 19-year-old Canadian citizen accused of purchasing bomb-making materials and securing the use of a cabin to build explosive devices, and a 19-year-old U.S. citizen based in Pakistan who allegedly planned to travel to New York to help carry out the attacks.

The third suspect, a 37-year-old Philippine citizen, is accused of wiring money from the Philippines to the United States to help fund the planned attacks, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors added that all three men have been arrested, and that the Canadian man, Abulrahman El Bahnasawy, has pleaded guilty.

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