US-based Afghan man who planned election-day attack ‘worked as CIA guard’
October 14, 2024 1 Comment
AN AFGHAN NATIONAL BASED in the United States, who was allegedly planning to carry out a terrorist attack during the upcoming Election Day, previously worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as a guard, reports claim. According to the US Department of Justice, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on October 7, alongside a number of co-conspirators who have so far not been named.
Tawhedi’s arrest occurred shortly after he purchased two AK-47 assault rifles, 10 magazines, and several rounds of ammunition from an FBI employee posing as a seller of the merchandise. The suspect allegedly told at least two FBI informants working on the case that he intended to use the weaponry to target “large gatherings of people” on Election Day. Tawhedi is also reported to have boasted that he expected to die in the attack. His indictment suggests that he planned to carry out the attack on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).
Tawhedi has lived in the US for a little over three years, having arrived on US soil soon after Washington began withdrawing its forces from Afghanistan, following a two decades-long military campaign. Like thousands of other Afghans, Tawhedi was able to enter the US through an emergency entry privilege known as a “humanitarian parole”. He then applied for a Special Immigrant Visa, which is customarily offered by the US government as a form of protection to foreign nationals who have provided services to its military and security agencies. According to reports, Tawhedi’s Special Immigrant Visa application had been approved and was in the last stages of being officially issued.
Last week, the American television network NBC reported that Tawhedi had been employed as a guard by the CIA in Afghanistan. The network cited “two sources with knowledge of the matter”. Later on the same day, another American television network, CBS News, said it had been able to independently verify the earlier report by NBC. It is notable that, according to both NBC and CBS, Tawhedi worked as a guard for a CIA facility, rather than an informant or an asset for the intelligence agency.
The recent media reports about Tawhedi have yet to answer the question of whether he had been communicating with identifiable ISIS handlers, or whether he was independently radicalized through his online activity. It is also not known whether Tawhedi was a supporter or an affiliate of ISIS during his stint with the CIA, or whether he became radicalized after arriving in the US in September 2021.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 14 October 2024 | Permalink
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All this reveals that Green-on-Blue attacks can occur overseas (eg Afghanistan) or in a delayed sense, like this, conspiring within a country providing sanctuary. It is very difficult to vet guards overseas where referees and other checking systems are across cultural barriers. Also Afghan guards now given US sanctuary are vulnerable to later alienation and manipulation.
Green-on-Blue numbers for some NATO Training Mission to Afghanistan years include: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_Training_Mission-Afghanistan#Green-on-blue_attacks
“In 2012, according to NATO, 51 coalition service members died due to the deliberate actions of members of the Afghan forces. Another 65 NATO soldiers were killed in insider attacks between 2007 and 2011.[9] The increase in so called “green-on-blue attacks” prompted U.S. officials to revamp the screening process of potential Afghan recruits as Afghan military leadership identified “hundreds” of Afghan soldiers within their ranks who were linked to the Taliban insurgency or harbored anti-American views.[10][11][12]
…The Long War Journal reported on such attacks, counting 155 since 2008 to 11 June 2017, resulting in 152 Coalition dead and 193 wounded.[16] [Afghan National Army] fighters sometimes fled to the Taliban, which posted videos ‘welcoming’ the fleeing fighters. NATO commanders initially stated that an estimated 90% of the attacks are due to cultural differences and personal enmity while the Afghan government disagreed with NATO’s analyst and blamed the problem on “infiltration by foreign spy agencies”, including those of “neighboring countries”. [were they suggesting Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Agency?] [16]“
It would be interesting to know if Afghanistan’s current ruling Taliban government has links with more internationally focussed ISIS. This is for internet grooming activities of Afghan immigrants who worked for the Coalition in guard or interpreter roles.