Uzbek Terrorist Shouted Allahu Akbar: Manhattan Attack Witness 

New York: A man allegedly inspired by the ISIS ploughed a pickup truck down a crowded bike path near the World Trade Centre here today, killing at least eight persons and injuring 11 others in the deadliest terrorist attack on the New York City since September 11, 2001.

The suspect, believed to be a 29-year-old Uzbek national, was shot in the stomach before being arrested. The media named him as Sayfullo Saipov, an immigrant who came to the US in 2010. The incident took place along the normally gridlocked West Side Highway, a major thoroughfare that runs along the western edge of Manhattan by the Hudson River. Manhattan is the most densely populated borough of the New York City.

The attacker left a roughly mile-long crime scene: a tree-lined bike path strewn with mangled bicycles and their parts. Police said the truck drove south after entering a pedestrian and bicycle path, where it struck multiple people.

Six men were pronounced dead at the scene on the cycle lane and two other people were dead on arrival at the hospital. After smashing the truck into a school bus, injuring two adults and two children, the suspect exited the truck displaying "imitation firearms" and was shot by police, according to the New York police department (NYPD).

"I heard a truck, a car, something going down the bike path," said witness Eugene Duffy, 44, who was waiting at a red light to walk across West Street. The driver shouted 'Allahu Akbar' after getting out of the vehicle, New York Post reported. A note in English was found in the truck that referred to the Islamic State terror group, media reports said.

At lease 11 people were transported to the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, according to New York Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro. The victims included a Belgian citizen and five Argentinians. A spokesman for Home Depot confirmed one of the company's rental trucks was part of an incident in lower Manhattan and said the company is "cooperating with authorities" in the investigation.

The suspect, who hails from Paterson New Jersey had multiple interactions with law enforcement in several states, online records show. Saipov had traffic citations issued in Missouri and Pennsylvania.Authorities said the was hospitalised after being shot by the police, underwent surgery and was expected to survive.

New York City mayor Bill de Blasio said the incident was being treated as an act of terror, "a particularly cowardly act of terror". US President Donald Trump denounced the attack, saying "we must not allow ISIS to return".

Trump also said he had ordered more robust "extreme vetting" of travellers coming into the US. The US Justice Department said in a statement that a joint terrorism task force that included the FBI, the NYPD and others was investigating the attack.

Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke has been briefed on the apparent act of terrorism that occurred in New York City, an official statement said.

The department is closely monitoring the situation and working with federal, state and local partners in responding to and investigating this tragedy. "We are referring all questions about the investigation to the FBI and the New York Police Department," the statement said.

An Uber spokeswoman said Saipov also drove for the popular ride sharing-company, which is cooperating with authorities, New York Daily News reported. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo directed the One World Trade Center to be lit in red, white and blue in honour of freedom and democracy, his office said.

New York has been largely spared from terrorism since nearly 3,000 people were killed in the September 11, 2001, attacks. The most recent violence from terrorism there came in September 2016, when a man set off shrapnel-packed explosives in the Chelsea neighbourhood of Manhattan. Nobody was killed, but 30 people were injured.

Trucks have become a common weapon for terrorists in recent years. In July 2016, as thousands of people crammed into the streets of Nice, France, for a Bastille Day celebration, an assailant influenced by Islamic State drove a 19-ton cargo truck into a crowd, leaving 86 dead and 434 injured. Then in December, a man with ties to Islamic State drove a 27-ton truck into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring 56 others.

Three months later, a man drove his car into pedestrians on London's Westminster Bridge, killing four and injuring dozens more, before jumping out and fatally stabbing a police officer and being shot dead by other officers.

PTI