Afghan man arrested in US for plotting Election Day attack

WASHINGTON: An Afghan man was arrested in Oklahoma for allegedly plotting an election day “terrorist attack,” the U.S. Department of Justice said on Tuesday.

The man, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, living in Oklahoma City after entering the U.S. in 2021 on a special immigrant visa, was plotting the attack in the name of Islamic State, according to the indictment. The Special Immigrant Visa program, which admits up to 50 people a year, is available to people who worked with the U.S. armed forces or under chief of mission authority as a translator or interpreter in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The indictment did not indicate whether Tawhedi worked as translator or interpreter in Afghanistan. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tawhedi searched online for information on how to access cameras in the capital, Washington, D.C., and for states that did not require a license to get a firearm, according to the indictment. He also visited the White House and Washington Monument webcameras.

Tawhedi and an underage co-conspirator, who is his brother-in-law, were arrested on Monday after they met with FBI assets to buy two AK-47 rifles and ammunition.

In his post-arrest interview, Tawhedi said the attack planned to target large gatherings of people, during which he and his co-conspirator expected to die as martyrs.

“We will continue to combat the ongoing threat that ISIS and its supporters pose to America’s national security, and we will identify, investigate, and prosecute the individuals who seek to terrorize the American people,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.