ISIS terrorist plotting attack on US Election Day was CIA security guard in Afghanistan, had escaped to USA after Taliban took over Afghanistan

On Monday, 7th October, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) apprehended an Afghan man who was working for the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization and was planning a terrorist attack on election day to target big crowds in the United States. The FBI officers have learned that the accused, identified as Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, worked as a security guard in Afghanistan for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). 

Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, of Oklahoma City, confessed to the investigators after his arrest that he planned to carry out the attack on Election Day in November and that he, and a co-conspirator, anticipated dying as ‘martyrs’. 

🚨🇺🇸 AFGHAN MAN PLOTTING ELECTION DAY ATTACK WORKED AS CIA SECURITY GUARD IN AFGHANISTAN

Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, arrested in Oklahoma for planning an ISIS-inspired Election Day attack, previously worked as a security guard for the CIA in Afghanistan, sources reveal.

He entered the… https://t.co/Zls5C80Zgz pic.twitter.com/CmSt1yVqkl

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) October 10, 2024

The officers charged the accused with attempting to kill Americans with an assault rifle on behalf of ISIS. Court filings stated that he donated to an ISIS charity in March and viewed online ISIS propaganda, but they could not specify whether he became radicalized before or after moving to the United States in 2021. According to a senior law enforcement official, the FBI is still examining that angle. The CIA, meanwhile, has not stated anything on the issue.  

According to a US official, Tawhedi, like other Afghans resettled in the US, would have undergone rigorous security screening in other countries before landing in the United States. According to court documents, Tawhedi entered the country in September 2021, roughly a month after the US troops ended their pullout from Afghanistan following two decades of war.

“Every Afghan resettled in the US undergoes a rigorous screening and vetting process no matter which agency they worked with. That process includes checking against a full range of US records and holdings,” one of the officials was quoted as saying.

The Department of Homeland Security, which leads the vetting, also declined to comment on the case, saying in a statement that “Afghan evacuees who sought to enter the United States were subject to multi-layered screening and vetting against intelligence, law enforcement, and counterterrorism information. If new information emerges after arrival, appropriate action is taken.” 

Oklahoma Attorney General, however, commented on the matter and said that the radical Islamic terrorist was imported directly to the United States by the Biden-Harris Administration as part of their controversial refugee resettlement program. “It is clear they failed to properly vet all refugees, which poses a significant threat to national security. Tawhedi is one of many thousands sent to America after the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan,” he said.

“While it is indisputable that many Afghan refugees are law-abiding and deserve our gratitude for helping U.S. forces as we fought the Taliban, we face the unsettling prospect that Tawhedi is not the only terrorist brought here by own government,” he added.

It is clear they failed to properly vet all refugees, which poses a significant threat to national security. Tawhedi is one of many thousands sent to America after the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. (2/3)

— Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond (@Okla_OAG) October 9, 2024

The arrest comes as the FBI faces increasing challenge of the likelihood of extremist violence on US territory. FBI Director Christopher Wray previously stated that he could not recall a moment in his tenure when so many different types of threats were escalated simultaneously.

“Terrorism is still the FBI’s number one priority, and we will use every resource to protect the American people,” Wray said in a statement on Tuesday.

An FBI document does not specify how Tawhedi got to investigators’ attention, but it does include evidence from recent months demonstrating his determination to plan an attack. The affidavit includes his image from July reading to two young children, including his daughter, a text that describes the rewards a ‘martyr’ receives in the afterlife.