The US authorities investigating the attempted bombing in New York's Times Square have arrested two people during searches in the Boston area. We can confirm that several search warrants have been executed in the northeast in connection with the Times Square bombing investigation, FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz told. Two individuals encountered during the searches were taken into federal custody in connection with immigration violations, she added. Homes in New York's Long Island were also being searched early on Thursday. Pakistani-born US citizen Faisal Shazhad, 30, has already been charged with the attempted bombing on 1 May. Authorities say Shahzad, who lived in Connecticut prior to the bombing attempt, has waived his US legal rights and is cooperating with federal officials. In its statement on the latest arrests, the FBI said it could provide no further details as the investigation is ongoing. But it added: This search is the product of evidence that has been gathered in the investigation subsequent to the attempted Times Square bombing and [does] not relate to any known immediate threat to the public or active plot against the United States. Police have cordoned off a house in Watertown, Massachusetts, a Boston suburb. An agent from Immigration and Customs Enforcement is reported to have been among those outside the Watertown house. Agents have also recovered a Honda car from a Mobil petrol station on Harvard Street in Brookline, Massachusetts. The vehicle is reportedly linked to the address in Watertown, Massachusetts. Justice department spokesman Dean Boyd said the searches were the result of evidence collected during a 13-day investigation. Shazhad has told officials he acted alone. But investigators have uncovered a possible link over the attempted bombing to the Pakistani Taliban and a Kashmiri Islamist group. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the failed attempt in Times Square. If this claim is true, the attempt would be the group's first act in the United States.
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