An Afghan national accused of plotting an ISIS-inspired Election Day terror attack on US democracy worked for the CIA in Afghanistan, according to a new report.
Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, who was nabbed in Oklahoma on Monday over the alleged terror plot, was employed as a security guard for the agency but was not a CIA informant, NBC News reported, citing multiple sources.
It wasn’t immediately clear when or how long Tawhedi worked security before he came to the US in 2021 — just weeks after the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan and the last US troops departed from the war-torn nation.
It also wasn’t known if there were signs Tawhedi had ties to radical Islam before he entered the US, the sources told NBC.
Tawhedi had been living in Oklahoma City on a special immigrant visa at the time of his arrest, the Justice Department said.
It meant Tawhedi should have been heavily screened before entering the country, according to NBC sources.
The visa was doled out to more than 70,000 Afghans by the Harris-Biden administration after the US pullout 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.”
Tawhedi was still on parole status, pending the conclusion of his immigration proceedings, when the feds grabbed him over the alleged terror plot, the Justice Department said.
The Department of Homeland Security’s parole program permits eligible Afghans who helped Americans — despite risk to themselves and their loved ones — to apply for entry into America with their families.
It wasn’t clear exactly how Tawhedi became eligible for the visa.
The feds haven’t disclosed yet how Tawhedi – and his alleged plot — came onto their radar.
Following his arrest, Tawhedi allegedly told investigators that he planned his attack to coincide with Election Day next month and that he and a co-conspirator expected to die as martyrs.
He had taken steps in recent weeks to advance his attack plans, including by ordering AK-47 rifles, liquidating his family’s assets and buying one-way tickets for his wife and child to travel home to Afghanistan, charging documents said.
Tawhedi has been charged with conspiring and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State.
