An Afghan immigrant pleaded guilty on Monday to planning a suicide bomb attack on New York City subways last September. Twenty-five-year-old Najibullah Zazi admitted in Brooklyn federal court that he had received bomb-making and weapons training from al-Qaeda in Pakistan’s Waziristan region. Zazi said the attack was designed to “bring attention to what the United States military was doing to civilians in Afghanistan.”

Attorney General Eric Holder: “Zazi has admitted that he brought explosives to New York City on September 10, 2009, and that he and others intended to detonate them on board the New York City subway system. This was one of the most serious terrorist threats to our nation since September the 11th, 2001, and were it not for the combined efforts of the law enforcement and intelligence communities, it could have been devastating. This attempted attack on our homeland was real. It was in motion. And it would have been deadly.”

Attorney General Eric Holder said the case proved the criminal justice system is an invaluable tool to incapacitate terrorists, to gain intelligence and to fight against terrorism. At least four other suspects have been charged in connection with the case: Najibullah Zazi’s father, a New York City imam, and two of his high school classmates from Queens.