U.S. investigators have found new clues into the motives of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev in an attempt to figure out what he did during a half-year-long trip to Dagestan, a restive area in southern Russia.
Officials said the 26-year-old traveled there to make contact with militant groups but did not join up with them, reported ABC News. They described Tsarnaev as a frustrated individual who did not feel at home in the U.S.
Since he did not join up with militants in Dagestan, officials believe that Tsarnaev and his younger brother were self-radicalized. Tsarnaev, who was killed days after the bombing in a police shootout, was described as a “lone wolf” attacker by officials familiar with the case, according to the broadcaster.
Officials also did not find a manifesto or document that was penned by Tsarnaev while he was in Dagestan, meaning there is no clear motive for the bombing attacks, which left three people dead and more than 200 wounded.
Officials said he made contact with suspected militant Mahmud Mansur Nidal and were seen at a Salafist mosque in Makhachkala popular with Islamist fighters. Nidal ultimately joined an Islamist organization but was killed in 2012 by Russian authorities.
Magomed Magomedov, who heads the Union of the Just group that promotes Sharia law, told ABC that Tsarnaev “was sticking out, it was obvious he is not local.
“He liked to draw attention with his expensive and fancy clothes. His haircut was something no one has seen before,” he added.
Some reports said that Tsarnaev claimed to know more about Islam than he really did and recited scriptures that he read on the Internet, confusing locals. “He was driving people crazy,” an official said.
This week, a man who reportedly knew Tsarnaev was shot and killed by FBI agents in Florida.
The man, Ibragim Todashev, is believed to have acted in concert with Tsarnaev in a 2011 triple-homicide in Waltham, Mass., reported The Associated Press.
