An Afghan citizen living in Oklahoma has been arrested and charged with conspiring to conduct an Election Day attack on behalf of the Islamic State, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, was arrested on October 7, along with a co-conspirator, while procuring two AK-47 assault rifles, ten magazines, and 500 rounds of ammunition from an FBI asset in western Oklahoma.
Tawhedi, per the criminal complaint that was unsealed on October 8, entered the United States on September 9, 2021 on a special immigrant visa (SIV) and was awaiting the adjudication of his immigration status. Tawhedi’s co-conspirator, who has not been named since he is a minor, is also an Afghan citizen but a legal permanent resident, having entered the U.S. in March 2018 on an SIV.
The SIV program was established in 2009 to resettle Afghans who had worked on behalf of the United States in Afghanistan. It witnessed a surge in interest and attention following the end of the U.S. war in Afghanistan and collapse of the erstwhile Republic government in August 2021. The number of visas is subject to a congressionally set cap and the process is lengthy. According to a September 2023 State Department report referenced by Reuters earlier this year, “some 130,000 full or partial applications were awaiting processing.”
Tawhedi has been charged with conspiring and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, and receiving a firearm to be used to commit a felony or a federal crime of terrorism, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years, if convicted.
The criminal complaint lays out evidence of Tawhedi’s Islamic State sympathies, including a July 2024 video of him reading to two children – his daughter and his co-conspirator’s younger brother – a text that “describes the rewards a martyr receives in the afterlife.” Tawhedi’s Google records allegedly demonstrate that he viewed and saved Islamic State propaganda. The Justice Department also alleges in the complaint that Tawhedi contributed to charities believed to be fronts for the Islamic State.
The connection between Tawhedi and the Islamic State appears to be through an individual known under the alias Abdul Malik. “In a prior investigation, FBI determined that Malik had facilitated recruitment, training and indoctrination of persons who expressed interest in terrorist activity…” the Justice Department noted.
The alleged plot seems to have been born out of exchanges between Malik and Tawhedi, in which the latter communicated the steps he’d taken to sell his house and purchase one-way tickets for his family to return to Afghanistan.
A footnote worth highlighting appears on page 19 of the criminal complaint: “Based on all evidence available at this time, [co-conspirator 1]’s father has no knowledge of or involvement in [Tawhedi and co-conspirator 1]’s plans to acquire firearms and ammunition or the engage in an attack.”
Assuming the minor co-conspirator is 17 or younger means that he entered the United States at the age of 11 or younger – therefore he arrived as the dependent of an Afghan who had worked with the United States, presumably his father.
In the heated political environment of the United States, often awash in blatant anti-immigrant sentiments, this case threatens to further ostracize an already vulnerable community.
“While the charges are serious, it’s critical that we do not assign blame to an entire community for the actions of one individual,” Shawn VanDiver, the president and board chairman of #AfghanEvac said in a statement. “Thousands of Afghans who resettled in the United States are working to build new lives and contribute to our shared future. These are the same individuals who stood shoulder to shoulder with us in Afghanistan for over two decades, defending the values we hold dear. Now, they are our neighbors, and we must support them as they seek safety and stability in their new home.”
#AfghanEvac administers a coalition of organizations “focused on deconflicting communications, effort, and systemic issues across the full enterprise of efforts focused on helping Afghans evacuate and resettle safely, swiftly, and within the bounds of the law.”
In light of these charges, VanDiver urged the public and media “to approach this story with the full context and a commitment to fairness.”
The criminal complaint provides considerable details about the alleged plot and evidence of Tawhedi’s aims – he reportedly said in an interview after his arrest that he planned to repatriate his family to Afghanistan, where they “could live according to pure Islam,” and then to commit an attack on Election Day targeting large gatherings in the United States. The complaint states that Tawhedi and his co-conspirator “expected to be martyred (i.e. die during the attack).”
What the complaint does not outline is Tawhedi’s path to radicalization, or that of his juvenile co-conspirator. At what point did they begin to sympathize with the Islamic State? What signs were missed or ignored? What interventions, if any, could have altered their trajectory? This may not be important to the criminal proceedings, but it is for understanding the context of this incident.
And this incident is sure to have widespread impact on the larger Afghan diaspora, both the thousands of Afghans already resettled in the United States and the many who remain abroad and in limbo as visas process through the bureaucracy.
