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NEW YORK, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Americans' fear and security concerns have grown after a round of bombings rocked New York and New Jersey over the weekend.
The attacks, which struck just days after the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, tore the battle scars of more than 8 million residents in New York City.
Klaas Claes, a citizen working near the blast scene in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan said the explosion sounded ten times louder than the sound of the rear gate slamming on a large dump truck.
"You could feel it in your body," Claes was quoted as saying by USA Today, "it was very powerful."
"I think that this is part of life now," said Craig Filiberto, a 56-year-old accountant when he was interviewed by reporters at the scene.
He witnessed the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 and thought Americans were "always a target" after all those terrorist attacks in the United States.
U.S. President Barack Obama, who is now in New York City for the annual UN General Assembly, delivered his first statement since the attacks on Monday morning, commending law enforcement officers and first responders for their professionalism and quick responses, and urged Americans not to "succumb to the fear."
The investigation over the incident is still underway, casting a long shadow over the presidential race, diverting both candidates' plans.
Some political experts think the timing pf the latest attacks is not related to the UN meeting, but perhaps to the U.S. elections.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Monday cast herself as the most qualified to combat terrorism at home and abroad.
Trump believes there's a foreign connection to the attacks, but his campaign declined to say whether it came from a national security briefing, according to a report of the Associated Press.
