Ahmad Khan Rahami: Wife of New York bombing suspect flies back to US

Asia Bibi Rahami is not a suspect and came back voluntarily, according to reports

The suspect's wife will help authorities to understand her husband's mindset and what led to the attacks (EPA)

The wife of the suspect behind the New York and New Jersey bombings has flown back to the US from the United Arab Emirates, according to reports.

Asia Bibi Rahami is not a suspect and came back voluntarily on a flight on Wednesday night, as reported by CBS.

She allegedly left the country a few days before the attacks and was intercepted in the UAE before reaching Pakistan, her home country.

Following the bombings, which injured 31 people in Chelsea, Manhattan, she spoke with investigators in Dubai, and US investigators wish to question her about her husband’s route to apparent radicalisation.

While one bomb exploded in Chelsea, another pressure cooker bomb in Manhattan did not explode. A pipe bomb in New Jersey detonated on Saturday morning in New Jersey, forcing a nearby 5k run to be cancelled.

Her husband, with whom she has a child, has been charged with attempted murder of police officers following a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey, and is in custody at $5.2 million bail. He is yet to be charged for the bombings.

His family, who run the Elizabeth-based First American Fried Chicken restaurant, have denied knowledge of the bomb plot.

The 28-year-old was in Pakistan from April 2013, and sought a US entry visa for his wife the following year. She was denied a visa as she was 35 weeks pregnant at the time, according to New Jersey congressman Albio Sires.

On Saturday evening, footage shows the suspect dragging two suitcases along a Manhattan street. He left the suitcases and fled. They were approached by two men, who took the bags after leaving the pressure cooker bomb on the pavement. The two men are being sought as witnesses.

Rahami’s journal was discovered by authorities, in which the suspect had written about Osama bin Laden and the ex-army officer, Nidal Hasan, who went on a shooting spree in Fort Hood, Texas. He wrote “Death to your oppression.”

He sued police in 2011 along with his brother and father for suffering alleged discrimination and harrassment surrounding the opening hours of their restaurant business, and because they were Muslim.

He was also arrested in 2014 for aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a firearm after he stabbed his brother in the leg.