Afghan man charged with election day terror attack passes multiple checks

The Afghan national charged with conspiring to carry out an Election Day terrorist attack in the United States passed multiple background checks before being allowed entry, U.S. officials told VOA.

FBI agents arrested 27-year-old Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on Monday on charges that he and a teenage co-conspirator were in contact with a recruiter for the Islamic State group and were planning to die in a mass shooting.

Court documents also said Tawhedi hoped to relocate most of his family, including his wife and one-year-old daughter, back to Afghanistan to live according to what he described as “pure Islam.”

However, U.S. officials, who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity to discuss details of a case still under investigation, said Thursday that there was no indication at this point that Tawhedi was affiliated with the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. ISIS, or Daesh, worked for the United States in Afghanistan or when he was vetted immediately before his arrival in the United States three years ago.

“Every Afghan resettled in the United States goes through a rigorous screening and vetting process, regardless of which one [U.S.] agency they worked with,” the official said.

“This process includes review of all relevant U.S. records and holdings,” the official added. “Tawhedi would not have been admitted to the United States if troubling information had emerged.”

Types of data

A second U.S. official told VOA that Tawhedi’s review included reviews that included both biometric data collected by the U.S. Department of Defense and the FBI, as well as sensitive information held by U.S. intelligence agencies.

Subsequent investigations to allow him to obtain a special immigrant visa after entering the United States were also inconclusive.

“Vetting is a point-in-time review that evaluates information available to the U.S. government at the time,” the official said.

The second official also said the government may take additional measures “if it later emerges that individuals who have entered the country are linked to information indicating a potential national or public security risk.”

NBC News, which first reported that Tawhedi’s background checks had turned up no red flags, cited sources as saying he worked as a security guard for the CIA before being resettled in the United States

When contacted by VOA, the CIA declined to comment.

But the arrest sparked concern among some U.S. lawmakers.

The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Republican Rep. Mark Green, sent a letter to the FBI and Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday demanding more information.

“These recent arrests raise serious concerns about the ongoing threat that ISIS and its fanatical supporters pose to U.S. national security, as well as the Biden-Harris administration’s lack of screening and vetting capabilities,” Green wrote.

“Furthermore, news of these potential Afghan terrorists came only months ago, when it was widely reported that eight Tajikistanis with ties to ISIS were arrested in Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia after illegally crossing the border,” Green added .

The FBI confirmed receipt of Green’s letter but declined further comment.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesman did not comment on the letter but described the vetting process for Afghans fleeing Taliban rule as “multifaceted.”

“Afghan evacuees seeking entry to the United States underwent a multi-layered screening and vetting process based on intelligence, law enforcement and counterterrorism information,” the spokesperson told VOA in an email. “If new information emerges after it arrives, appropriate action will be taken.”

When was he radicalized?

But in Tawhedi’s case, questions remain.

“What is not clear from the information currently available is the exact point in time at which Tawhedi became radicalized to the ideology of the Islamic State,” said Austin Doctor, director of counterterrorism research initiatives at the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology and Education Center (NCITE).

“We don’t yet know whether he became radicalized after arriving in the United States or whether he already held pro-ISIS beliefs before leaving Afghanistan,” Doctor told VOA. “This is important.”

According to court documents, a search of Tawhedi’s phone and social media accounts revealed that he had conducted internet searches to find and consume ISIS propaganda. However, it is unclear when this began.

According to the criminal complaint filed Monday, the earliest point of involvement with ISIS was around March of this year, when Tawhedi made two cryptocurrency transfers worth at least $540 to a charity that prosecutors said was committed to ISIS.

About four months later, in July, someone made a video recording – stored on Tawhedi’s phone – of Tawhedi reading to a nephew and his daughter about the rewards that awaited martyrs in the afterlife.

The first indications of a possible terrorist attack emerged the same month, when the FBI said Tawhedi conducted online searches for webcams for the White House and the Washington Monument, as well as weapons procurement.

It also remains unclear whether Tawhedi’s Islamic State contact worked for the group’s Afghan affiliate, known as IS-Khorasan or ISIS-K.

“We have seen ISIS-K make a concerted effort to recruit members of diaspora communities,” the NCITE doctor told VOA. “And facilitating external operations and encouraging domestic violent extremist attacks are both prominent elements of the group’s playbook.”