An Afghan national, accused of planning an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack targeting U.S. democracy on Election Day, reportedly worked for the CIA in Afghanistan, according to a recent report.
Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, who was arrested in Oklahoma on Monday in connection with the alleged terror plot, worked as a security guard for the CIA, though he was not an informant for the agency, according to NBC News, which cited several sources. It is still unclear when or for how long Tawhedi had been working in security before arriving in the US in 2021, just weeks after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan and the last U.S. troops left the country.
Dangerous Plans Kept Under Wraps
Sources told NBC that it was also unclear whether there were any indications of Tawhedi's connections to radical Islam prior to his arrival in the U.S. At the time of his arrest, Tawhedi was living in Oklahoma City on a special immigrant visa, according to the Justice Department.
This suggested that Tawhedi should have undergone extensive screening before entering the country, as reported by NBC sources.
The Harris-Biden administration issued this visa to over 70,000 Afghans following the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
"Every Afghan resettled in the U.S. undergoes a rigorous screening and vetting process no matter which agency they worked with," an official told the outlet.
"That process includes checking against a full range of US records and holdings."
According to the Justice Department, Tawhedi was still on parole status while awaiting the outcome of his immigration proceedings when he was taken into custody by federal authorities in connection with the alleged terror plot.
Danger Avoided
The Department of Homeland Security's parole program allows eligible Afghans who helped Americans, putting themselves and their families at risk, to apply for entry into the United States along with their families.
It is unclear how Tawhedi became eligible for the visa.
Federal authorities have not yet revealed how Tawhedi and his alleged plot came to their notice.
After his arrest, Tawhedi reportedly told investigators that he planned for his attack to coincide with Election Day next month and that he and a co-conspirator anticipated dying as martyrs.
According to charging documents, he had taken several actions in recent weeks to further his attack plans, including ordering AK-47 rifles, liquidating his family's assets, and purchasing one-way tickets for his wife and child to return to Afghanistan.
Tawhedi has been charged with conspiring and trying to provide material support to the Islamic State.
