The Pakistani Taliban have denied any role in the bombings that killed at least three people, including an 8-year-old boy, and injured more than 140 at the Boston Marathon.

Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP denied the insurgent group had anything to do with the fatal explosions.

“We believe in attacking US and its allies but we are not involved in this attack,” Ehsan said. “We have no connection to this bombing but we will continue to target them wherever possible”.

The TTP claimed responsibility for a botched car bomb in Times Square in New York in 2010.

But the pronouncement offered no relief to thousands of people still struggling to make sense of what happened on Monday when two explosions within minutes of each other knocked runners near the finish line during one of America’s top sporting events. Pictures of bloodied sidewalks and shards of glass quickly spread online, drawing an outpouring grief for the victims.

US President Barack Obama vowed to make the perpetrators “feel the full weight of justice”.

The White House said the incident would be handled as an “act of terror”. If confirmed as terrorism, it would be the worst such incident on US soil since the 9/11 attacks in 2001, reports the Financial Times.