Boston Herald - Ayotte: Probe Must Focus on Terror Suspect's Possible Ties Overseas

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By Chris Villani

Investigators must focus on who terror suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami associated with during trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan as they continue to probe the man accused of setting off explosions in New York City and New Jersey as well as planting explosive devices in a New Jersey train station, New Hampshire U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte said today.

"Did he have any connections, did he get any training on explosives, and who else was involved in this?" Ayotte said this morning on Herald Radio, detailing some of the key questions in the investigation. "I think the real question is about his travel to Afghanistan and Pakistan. I think they have to go back to understand who he talked to there."

A man who described himself as a childhood friend of Rahami told the Herald yesterday the bombing suspect underwent a "shocking" change after a trip to visit family in Afghanistan two years ago. Authorities said Rahami, a U.S. citizen whose family moved to America when he was 7, was interviewed upon reentering the U.S., but was allowed to return.

"It reminds us this terrorism threat is very, very real and we need to understand whether there were any gaps in our system," said Ayotte, a Republican who serves on the Senate's Homeland Security Committee and Armed Services Committee. "The question is, when someone travels to these countries where they have extremist groups, what kind of vetting is done, what kind of interviewing is done? And we will be looking at that in the Homeland Security Committee. We need to understand if anything was missed or if he received any training. Those are the things that are open questions right now."

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