The US has charged Ahmad Khan Rahami with planting bombs in New York and New Jersey, according to BBC News.

Thirty-one people were injured when a bomb went off in the Chelsea neighbourhood of Manhattan on Saturday, September 17.

Rahami was already charged by the state of New Jersey with the attempted murder of police, during his arrest.

The new federal charges include use of a weapon of mass destruction, bombing, destruction of property and use of a destructive device.

Unsealed in a Manhattan federal court, the charge sheet sheds new light on Rahami's motivations. His journal apparently expressed the wish to die a martyr, the criminal complaint revealed.

One passage said: "You [USA Government] continue your [unintelligible] slaught[er]" against the mujahideen, or holy warriors, be it Afghanistan, Iraq, Sham (Syria), Palestine."

Another refers in glowing terms to Osama Bin Laden, Anwar al-Awlaki, a US-born Muslim cleric killed in a 2011 drone strike, and Nidal Hasan, a former Army officer who killed 13 people at a Texas Army base in 2009.

His journal apparently expressed the wish to die a martyr, the criminal complaint revealed.

One passage said: "You [USA Government] continue your [unintelligible] slaught[er]" against the mujahideen, or holy warriors, be it Afghanistan, Iraq, Sham (Syria), Palestine."

Another refers in glowing terms to Osama Bin Laden, Anwar al-Awlaki, a US-born Muslim cleric killed in a 2011 drone strike, and Nidal Hasan, a former Army officer who killed 13 people at a Texas Army base in 2009.

The series of bombings over the weekend have sparked a heated debate about national security between the two presidential candidates, days before their first televised debate.

Republican Donald Trump has seized on the fact Rahami was born in Afghanistan to bolster his tough stance on immigration admissions.

But his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, has accused Trump of enabling the terrorists by playing into their hands.

Rahami is still in hospital, recovering from injuries sustained during the shootout that led to his arrest.