NEW YORK: The alleged New Jersey terrorist charged with trying to blow up a Chelsea area in New York City last weekend had spent weeks getting religious education at a Pakistani seminary, according to a news report here on Monday.

Ahmad Khan Rahami spent three weeks in Kuchlak, an area described as a long-time ‘hub’ for the Taliban, in 2011, a security official in Pakistan told the Guardian.

Rahami, 28, attended lectures at the Kaan Kuwa Naqshbandi seminary.

US authorities have been tight-lipped with details of Rahami’s trips to Pakistan, acknowledging that he was married during a visit to Quetta, the New York Post tabloid said.

Security agencies in Pakistan had tried to “hide all details” of his visits to Quetta, one anonymous official told the newspaper.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2016