Arrests in Times Square Bomb Probe: Three in U.S., One in Pakistan

Four arrests were reported Thursday in the investigation of the attempted car bombing in Times Square, including a suspect picked up in Pakistan who officials said has connections to the Taliban.

Pakistani officials said the suspect has admitted helping accused bomber Faisal Shahzad travel into Pakistan's tribal areas for bomb training, The Washington Post reported. The new suspect provided an "independent stream" of evidence that the Pakistani Taliban may have been behind the May 1 attack, authorities said.

Earlier, a spokesman for U.S. customs confirmed that three people connected to the attempted bombing were arrested in the United States. Two arrests were in the Boston area, and the other was in Maine. The spokesperson said all three were nabbed for suspected immigration violations.

On Capitol Hill on Thursday, Attorney General Eric Holder told the House Judiciary Committee the arrests were "the product of evidence gathered in the investigation" of the incident, in which the explosives were disabled before doing any damage. Holder said investigators carried out search warrants at several locations in the Northeast, the Associated Press reported. The raids "do not relate to any known immediate threat to the public, or active plot against the United States," according to a Justice Department statement reported by The New York Times.

Shahzad, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, faces terrorism charges.