Bill Roggio talked about this earlier, but now the SITE Intelligence Group has specific details about the claim. As suspected earlier, the group claiming credit is located in Pakistan and tied to the Taliban.

A video allegedly released by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed the attempted bombing in Times Square in New York City on May 1, 2010. The video, posted to YouTube, contains an audio message attributed to Qari Hussein Mehsud, an official in TTP and organizer of its suicide bombing squad, played over anti-American images. English subtitles were also provided. The TTP states that the attack was in revenge for the recent deaths of Abu Umar al-Baghdadi and Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, killed in Iraq in April.

Here is the YouTube account connected to the video, which has been pulled by YouTube staff. The account — under the name “Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan News Channel” — was actually created yesterday, which makes you wonder if this was the group’s first attempt at jihad against the west. It says their location is in Waziristan, occupation is “Jihad in the path of ALLAH Subhanahu wa Taala”, and hobbies are “Jihad, Khilafat, Shariah”.

Back to Roggio:

“This attack is a revenge for the great & valuable martyred leaders of mujahideen,” Qari Hussain said. He listed Baitullah Mehsud, the former leader of the Pakistani Taliban who was killed in a Predator strike in August 2009, and Abu Omar al Baghdadi, the former leader of al Qaeda Islamic State of Iraq who was killed by Iraqi forces in mid-April. And although he was not mentioned, an image of Abu Ayyub al Masri, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, was also displayed in the images accompanying the audiotape.

Qari Hussain also said the failed attack was “revenge for the Global American interference & terrorism in Muslim countries, especially in Pakistan for Lal Masjid operation,” a reference to the July 2008 Pakistani military assault on Islamists holed up in the Red Mosque in Islamabad, as well as Predator strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas and the arrest and detention of Pakistani scientist Aifa Siddique.

The video, if legitimate, was obviously pre-recorded. The attack is described as a “jaw-breaking blow to Satan USA” in the beginning of the recording, yet as we know the device never went off. No injuries, no real damage, and certainly no deaths. Not exactly a blow, much less a jaw-breaking one.