NEW YORK: The US law enforcement authorities swiftly arrested in New Jersey on Monday Afghanistan-born Ahmad Khan Rahami, the suspect in Saturday’s bombing in New York.

According to officials, he was taken into custody after a brief shootout at his apartment in the Linden city.

A law enforcement official said they had evidence that Rahami was connected not just to the Manhattan explosion in the Chelsea neighbourhood, but also to a bombing that took place earlier on Saturday on the Jersey Shore, the New York Times reported.

The arrest came after police issued a mobile phone alert to millions of residents in the area to be on the lookout for the suspect who was described as “armed and dangerous”.

Rahami, 28, was identified on surveillance video near the locations of both the bombs that exploded in Chelsea and another device that did not detonate a few blocks away. He was described as a naturalised citizen of Afghan descent who had been living with his family in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

Hours before Rahami’s name was released, the police discovered five pipe bombs near a train station in Elizabeth, detonating one of them overnight as they sought to defuse them.

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, who had said on Sunday that the attack did not appear to have a link to international terrorism, said new evidence might change that thinking.

“I would not be surprised if we did have a foreign connection to the act,” he said on CNN on Monday morning.

Rahami was born on Jan 23, 1988 in Afghanistan. He is described as about five feet six inches tall and weighing about 200 pounds with brown hair, eyes and facial hair.

The city’s police commissioner, James P. O’Neill, had asked the entire patrol force of his department — 36,000 officers — to step up their vigilance and be on alert for Rahami as dozens of officers and federal agents were zeroing in on locations in New Jersey.

At the same time, more than 1,000 officers from the city police force’s Critical Response Command and Emergency Service Unit were working to secure New York City landmarks, commuter hubs and other sensitive sites.

By midmorning on Monday, the police had handled dozens of calls for suspicious packages.

According to AFP, the suspect was injured in the shootout with police.

The attacks and a separate stabbing carried out by a Somali-American with possible links to the militant Islamic State group have put America on edge over fears of terrorism less than 50 days before the presidential elections.

President Barack Obama, in New York attending the United Nations General Assembly with world leaders, called on Americans “not to succumb to fear” in his first remarks about the three attacks in a 24-hour period.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2016