In what further strengthens the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan's (TTP) direct involvement in the failed Times Square bombing plot, a federal indictment released earlier this week has revealed that the extremist outfit had paid $12,000 to Faisal Shahzad to plot the explosion at the busy
commercial intersection.
Shahzad, a US citizen of Pakistani origin currently in detention, has been accused of planting an explosives laden SUV at Times Square.
According to The Washington Post, the 10-count federal indictment alleges that Shahzad received payments of $5,000 and $7,000 in transactions with an accomplice affiliated with the Taliban.
The first payment was received in February in Massachusetts, and the next, two weeks later in New York.
According to reports in the US media, Shahzad, who lived in Bridgeport, Connecticut, had told authorities during his interrogation that he "recently" received bomb-making instructions in Pakistan's volatile tribal region of Waziristan.
He also told officials that he tried to detonate the improvised bomb in the Pathfinder and tried to flee the US after the failed attack.
It is worth mentioning here that the US officials and analysts had initially brushed off the TTP's claim of a connection to the May 1 botched terror attempt, as it did not consider it a 'trans-national group', however, the growing evidence showcased the lengthening reach of Pakistan-based militants.