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From NBC News: An Afghan man arrested on charges of planning a terrorist attack on Election Day worked as a security guard in Afghanistan for the CIA, two sources with knowledge of the matter told NBC News.
Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, was arrested on Monday in Oklahoma and accused of plotting to kill Americans with an assault rifle on behalf of ISIS. Court documents said he had contributed to an ISIS charity in March and accessed online ISIS propaganda, but they did not say whether he was radicalized before or after he came to the U.S. in 2021. A senior law enforcement official said the FBI is still investigating that question.
The CIA declined to comment.
A U.S. official said that Tawhedi, like other Afghans who resettled in the U.S., would have gone through robust security screening in other countries before arriving in the U.S. Court documents say Tawhedi entered the country in September 2021, about a month after the U.S. military completed its chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war.
The Department of Homeland Security, which plays a lead role in the vetting, declined to discuss 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.”
However, NBC noted that a report by the DHS inspector general, dated Sept. 6, 2022, said the agency “lacked critical data” as it sought to screen the refugees. The DHS IG report also warned, “We also determined CBP admitted or paroled evacuees who were not fully vetted into the United States.”
The CIA undertook its own large-scale evacuation operation of Afghans who had worked for or helped the agency, NBC reported. If Tawhedi on worked as a security guard for the CIA, the report explains:
The sources familiar with his work in Afghanistan say he would have had minimal interaction with Americans and he was not a CIA informant or a member of the U.S.-trained and armed paramilitary force known as the “Zero Units.”
It is also unclear how Tawhedi entered the United States. The DOJ criminal complaint says he entered on a Special Immigrant Visa “and is currently on parole status pending adjudication of his immigrant proceedings.”
NBC explains that ‘Special Immigrant Visas’ are given to Afghans who worked with the U.S. in Afghanistan after they pass DHS screening. The report continues:
However, two U.S. officials familiar with the matter told NBC News the charging document is incorrect, and that Tawhedi entered the U.S. on what’s known as humanitarian parole. Officials say humanitarian parole generally entails far less screening than a Special Immigrant Visa.
NBC correspondent Ken Dilanian wrote in a social media post:
The alleged Afghan terrorist charged this week worked as a security guard for the CIA in Afghanistan. The FBI is investigating whether he was radicalized before or after he came here in 2021 on humanitarian parole–a month after the chaotic U.S. military withdrawal.
So far, Biden/Harris administration officials have declined to discuss what was done to vet this person. DHS said in a statement:
“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.”
So far, Biden/Harris administration officials have declined to discuss what was done to vet this person. DHS said in a statement:
“Afghan evacuees who sought to enter the United States were subject to multi layered screening and vetting against intelligence, law enforcement,… https://t.co/PT69suxPA8
— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) October 9, 2024
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond seized on the case, writing, “The American people need to know that this radical Islamic terrorist was imported directly to the United States by the Biden-Harris Administration as part of their controversial refugee resettlement program.”
The American people need to know that this radical Islamic terrorist was imported directly to the United States by the Biden-Harris Administration as part of their controversial refugee resettlement program. (Contd.) https://t.co/AtVJAkUkmJ
— Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond (@Okla_OAG) October 9, 2024
Drummond 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.
“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 own government.”
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 own government. (3/3)
— Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond (@Okla_OAG) October 9, 2024
Donald Trump Jr. responded, “Border Czar Kamala Harris literally imported a terrorist from Afghanistan into our country. Enough is enough!”
Border Czar Kamala Harris literally imported a terrorist from Afghanistan into our country. Enough is enough! https://t.co/pPAPdGT2qS
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 9, 2024
Dilanian fired back at Trump Jr., writing, “It’s worth pointing out that court records say the juvenile co-conspirator in this terror plot entered the country in March 2018, during the presidency of Donald J. Trump.”
It’s worth pointing out that court records say the juvenile co-conspirator in this terror plot entered the country in March 2018, during the presidency of Donald J. Trump. https://t.co/oSqk8sWwjo
— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) October 10, 2024
DML NEWS APP NOTE: The co-conspirator, a juvenile, is a citizen of Afghanistan with legal permanent resident status who lives in a single-family home in Moore, Oklahoma, a suburb of Oklahoma City. The unnamed teen entered the United States on March 27, 2018 on a special immigrant visa and lives with his father, mother and five siblings.
Although the family entered the US in 2018, it is unsure whether they were vetted by the Obama administration or the Trump administration.
When Trump took office, he drastically reduced the refugee admissions cap from what the Obama administration had set. After Joe Biden took office, he increased the refugee admissions cap. Below are the numbers for the U.S. Refugee Admissions & Refugee Resettlement Ceilings:
- 2016 – 85,000 (last year of Obama administration)
- 2017 – 50,000 (first year of Trump administration)
- 2018 – 45,000
- 2019 – 30,000
- 2020 – 18,000
- 2021 – 62,500 (first year of Biden administration)
- 2022 – 125,000
- 2023 – 125,000
- 2024 – 125,000
NEW: An Afghan man arrested on charges of planning a terrorist attack on Election Day worked as a security guard in Afghanistan for the CIA, two sources with knowledge of the matter tell NBC News. https://t.co/Z5Ns0RXxMh
— NBC News World (@NBCNewsWorld) October 10, 2024
🚨BREAKING: This is 27-year-old Nasir Tawhedi. He lives in Oklahoma City and has now been charged, accused of plotting an Election Day terror attack in the name of ISIS.
I will post a few screenshots from the DOJ’s unsealed complaint to this thread: pic.twitter.com/8NnwJru6xQ
— Abigail Ogle📝 (@KOCOAbigail) October 8, 2024
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