Afghan man 'plotted ISIS terror attack on US election day' and 'bought AK-47s and ammunition'
9 October 2024, 09:01
An Afghan man has been arrested and charged with plotting a terror attack for the US presidential election day.
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Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, of Oklahoma City, who moved to the US in 2021, planned to launch the attack on November 5 and expected to die as a martyr, along with a co-conspirator.
Tawhedi had been preparing for the attack in recent weeks, including ordering AK-47 guns, selling his family assets and buying one-way tickets for his wife and child to return to Afghanistan, the FBI said.
He was arrested on Monday. FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Tuesday: "Terrorism is still the FBI's number one priority, and we will use every resource to protect the American people."
Tawhedi was allowed to move into the US on a special immigrant visa after the withdrawal from Afghanistan. The programme permits eligible Afghans who helped Americans to apply for entry into America with their families.
Those eligible include interpreters for the US military, as well as people who were integral to the American embassy in Kabul.
A photograph from July shows Tawhedi reading to his daughter and another child "a text that describes the rewards a martyr receives in the afterlife".
That included claims that “martyrs will be exempted from the sufferings of the grave, placed in heaven, get married to 72 virgins, and receive a crown full of jewels
Tawhedi also read Islamic State propaganda, contributed to an ISIS front charity and spoke to a recruiter for the terror group who had already been identified by the FBI.
The alleged would-be killer also looked at webcams for the White House and the Washington Monument in July.
Tawhedi's co-conspirator, who is also an Afghan, was not named by the FBI because he is underage.
They advertised the sale of property on Facebook in September, which an FBI informant responded to.
The informant struck up a relationship with the pair, and invited them to a gun shooting range, where they ordered weapons from an undercover FBI official.
Tawhedi and his co-conspirator was arrested after receiving the rifles and ammunition.
Tawhedi told investigators that he planned to attack a large crowd on election day.
He was charged with conspiring and attempting to provide material support to ISIS, which is designated as a foreign terror group in the US.
If found guilty, Tawhedi faces up to 20 years in prison.
Joe Biden's administration gave 70,000 Afghans leave to enter the US after the US exit from Afghanistan. Under the terms of their residency, they can live legally in the US for up to two years, with the possibility of extensions afterwards.
