A small explosion hit a military recruiting station in New York's Times Square early Thursday, causing minor damage to the one-story structure but nobody was injured.
The blast at 3:45 a.m. (0845 GMT) was caused by low-order explosives contained in an ammunition box, New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told a news conference.
The explosion left a hole in the front window and shattered a glass door of the recruiting station at "crossroads of the world," which has been the site of several anti-war protests in the past.
One witness reported seeing a suspicious-looking bicyclist wearing a hood and dark-colored clothing in the area shortly before the blast, Kelly said, urging people with additional information to call the police tips hotline.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg vowed to catch the perpetrator and prosecute him "to the full extent of the law."
"Whoever the coward was that committed this disgraceful act on our city will be found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law," Bloomberg told a morning press conference held near the site of the blast. "We will not tolerate such attacks."
"New York City is back and open for business. Traffic is flowing through Times Square, The subways and trains are running again. And people are going about their business, shopping, working and sightseeing," Bloomberg said. "They are not intimidated."
The U.S. Defense Department has issued an e-mail alert to the 1,650 recruiting stations around the country about the blast, CNN reported.
Police commissioner Kelly said the city's arson and explosion unit is examining forensic evidence and that the device, though not particularly sophisticated, could cause injury or even death.
Investigators are looking at video footage from the area's surveillance cameras, including those from surrounding hotels and small businesses.
The forensics from the scene will be shipped to an FBI laboratory in Virginia. A joint task force involving New York Police, the FBI and a number of other federal, state and local agencies has launched an investigation into the incident.
Thursday's explosion was similar to two other early-morning blasts in New York, one near the Mexican consulate in last October and the other at the British consulate in May 2005, but authorities have refrained from linking the latest incident to those two.
Source:Xinhua
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