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The Hill
14-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Afghan man pleads guilty for plotting Election Day attack
An Afghan man pleaded guilty to two terrorism-related offenses on Friday for plotting to carry out an Election Day attack. Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, told investigators he and co-conspirator Abdullah Haji Zada planned to die as martyrs while targeting large groups of people on Nov. 5. 'By pledging allegiance to ISIS and plotting an attack against innocent Americans on Election Day, this defendant endangered lives and gravely betrayed the nation that gave him refuge,' Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. 'Today's guilty plea guarantees he will be held accountable, stripped of his immigration status, and permanently removed from the United States, and shows the Justice Department has zero tolerance for those who exploit our freedoms to spread violence.' The FBI first thwarted the plot, which they said was motivated by ISIS, in October of last year. The Justice Department said Tawhedi purchased two AK-47 rifles, 500 rounds of ammunition, and 10 magazines with the intent to carry out a mass-casualty attack. 'Thanks to outstanding work by the Oklahoma City Joint Terrorism Task Force, the defendant's plan to kill innocent Americans in a terrorist attack on Election Day was stopped,' said Special Agent in Charge Doug Goodwater of the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office. Tawhedi is facing a maximum sentence of 35 years in prison for the two charges while Zada faces up to 15 years in federal prison. At the completion of any sentence, Tawhedi and Zada will be permanently removed from the barred from reentry under stipulated judicial orders of removal to Afghanistan, according to the Justice Department.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
ISIS supporter Nasir Tawhedi pleads guilty for planning Election Day terror attack
An Afghan national who had ties to the CIA has pleaded guilty to two federal crimes over his thwarted plot to carry out a terrorism attack last November on Election Day in support of ISIS. Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, made the plea through a translator on Friday, June 13, in Oklahoma City federal court. A jury trial had been set for next year but Tawhedi waived that right during the hearing. U.S. District Judge Scott Palk will decide his punishment later. The maximum possible prison sentence for the two crimes is 35 years. Tawhedi and his brother-in-law, Abdullah Haji Zada, were arrested Oct. 7, 2024 at a rural Oklahoma location after purchasing two AK-47 rifles and 500 rounds of ammunition, the FBI reported in a court affidavit. The purchase came during a meeting with an undercover FBI employee and two FBI sources. Tawhedi admitted after his arrest that the two bought the guns to commit an attack on Election Day "targeting large gatherings of people," according to the affidavit. Tawhedi said they expected to die in the Nov. 5 attack and be martyrs. Earlier in 2024, Tawhedi used his Google account to access webcams for the White House and Washington Monument, according to the affidavit. Under a deal, Tawhedi pleaded guilty to a felony conspiracy count for his attempt to provide support to a foreign terrorism organization. He also pleaded guilty to a felony count of receipt of guns and ammunition to commit terrorism. Before agreeing to a plea deal, Tawhedi had faced three felony counts with a maximum punishment of 55 years. At the time of the arrest, Tawhedi was living with his wife and daughter in an Oklahoma City apartment. He arrived in the United States in 2021 from Afghanistan and moved to Oklahoma in December 2023. He had been working as an auto mechanic. He had worked for the CIA in Afghanistan as a security guard, NBC News reported last wife filed for divorce in Cleveland County District Court in January, one day after their second child was born. The case is pending. Zada, now 18, pleaded guilty in April to a felony count of receipt of guns and ammunition to commit terrorism. He is awaiting sentencing. He is the brother of Tawhedi's wife and also is an Afghan national. He has been in the United States since 2018. At the time of his arrest, Zada was living in Moore with his parents and siblings. He was a virtual student at Southmoore High School. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond pointed to the plot to carry out a mass shooting in support of ISIS when he called for the expulsion of all Afghan refugees from Oklahoma. ISIS was largely defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019 by a U.S.-led military campaign. The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, however, continues to attract people from across the world to join its ranks. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: ISIS supporter who played Election Day attack pleads guilty in OKC
Express Tribune
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Revisiting a victor
Fans of The Hunger Games, the odds are generously in your favour. After showing us the conniving boy that became the vicious President Snow, the beloved dystopian film franchise is gearing up for another prequel - this one set some years after The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Announced long before the 2025 release of its source material, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will serve as the film adaptation for Suzanne Collins' novel of the same name. As per The Hollywood Reporter, the book was first announced in June last year, which was shortly followed by news on the screen adaptation. Slated for a November 20, 2026 release, the film will be the latest in a franchise that has brought all preceding novels to the big screen. Similar to The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Sunrise on the Reaping follows the youth of a character that the fans are familiar with, except this one is adored for aiding the protagonists as their Capitol-assigned mentor in the original books and films. Now, Haymitch Abernathy - tribute, friend, and rebel - will tell his own story. District 12 lineup Sunrise on the Reaping follows the 50th year of the annual Hunger Games, also known as the second Quarter Quell. In the Capitol's celebration of another 15-year lap, the Games introduce a fresh twist by doubling up on the usual 12 tributes that fight to the death each year. This time around, two girls and two boys are reaped from each district, adding up to a total of 42 teenagers forced to endure the Capitol's cruel punishment. Unbeknownst to young Haymitch, his dictated participation is only the first step towards a long life of misfortune. Leading a promising cast that appeases fans with every update, Joseph Zada will bring Haymitch to life on the big screen, along with Whitney Peak who will portray Haymitch's girlfriend, Lenore Dove Baird. Zada takes the torch from Woody Harrelson, who played the fan-favourite District 12 victor in the original quartet of films. Aside from Zada and Peak, others actors representing District 12 include Ben Wang who plays Wyatt Callow, the second male tribute reaped from District 12, along with Mckenna Grace and Molly McCann who play the female tributes Maysilee Donner and Louella McCoy respectively. Additionally, Iona Bell will portray Lou Lou, the Capitol's chilling replacement for Louella. Familiar names The official Instagram account for The Hunger Games is announcing all cast members steadily. With a post dedicated to a character each, the videos show text from the novel disappearing until only the character's name remains. The page then burns to reveal the actor behind the respective character, prompting a flood of reactions to each cast member in the comments. Portraying the tributes' band of allies are Kelvin Harrison Jr, Maya Hawke, and Lili Taylor, who play Beetee Latier, Wiress, and Mags Flanagan. Having previously appeared in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the characters were formerly played by Jeffrey Wright, Amanda Plummer, and Lynn Cohen respectively. Other familiar characters to be reintroduced in Sunrise on the Reaping are double agent Plutarch Heavensbee, President Coriolanus Snow, future Capitol escort Effie Trinket, and interviewer Caesar Flickerman. Formerly portrayed by Elizabeth Banks in the films centered around Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, a younger version of the elaborately dressed Effie will be played by Maleficent star Elle Fanning. Meanwhile, Black Mirror star Jesse Plemons is set to play Plutarch, the Capitol insider who aids the district rebels in the future story. The role was originally portrayed by Philip Seymour Hoffman. President Snow, who holds the record for appearing in every Hunger Games novel and film, will be brought to life this time by Conclave star Ralph Fiennes. The evil dictator was last seen as the protagonist of his own story in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and was played by Tom Blyth, though the late Donald Sutherland famously portrayed him in his prime in the first four films. The latest addition to the cast is Succession star Kieran Culkin, who will borrow the role of Caesar - the Capitol host who sits down with every tribute before the Games - from Stanley Tucci. "Kieran's scene-stealing presence and undeniable charm are perfect for Caesar Flickerman, the sickeningly watchable host of Panem's darkest spectacle. Stanley Tucci made Caesar unforgettable - and now Kieran will make the role entirely his own," said Lionsgate Motion Picture Group co-president Erin Westerman. No surprises? As per Variety, the novel Sunrise on the Reaping sold a staggering 1.5 million copies in its first week on sale in the US, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, producing twice the first-week sales of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and three times that of Mockingjay. "After traveling with Coriolanus, who is endlessly manipulative and controlling, it was a relief to wear both Haymitch's voice and character. He has a much greater capacity for hope, love, and joy. More than Coriolanus - or Katniss, for that matter," Collins said. Speaking of revisiting a character whose future the readers are already familiar with, the author added, "It's another way to approach a story, but it has its advantages. If you look at Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, we learn in the prologue that the lovers will die. So you're really not focused on what's going to happen, but on how or why it happens."
New York Times
30-04-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Families Are Split as Pakistan Deports Thousands of Afghan Refugees
Every night in Karachi, a bustling port city in Pakistan, Fatima Bibi goes to bed in fear. The sound of police sirens from the streets outside makes her anxious. She wonders whether a knock at the door might tear her family apart. Her husband, Sher Zada, is an Afghan refugee. His family fled conflict in Afghanistan when he was just a boy, in 1992, and Pakistan is the only home he knows. Ms. Bibi's family long hoped that despite Mr. Zada's undocumented status, his close ties to the country and marriage to a Pakistani national would eventually help him secure permanent residency, if not citizenship. But to the Pakistani government, it is officially past time for Mr. Zada to leave. On March 31, a government-imposed deadline expired for many Afghans in Pakistan to find another country of refuge. Those without legal status who remain in Pakistan, like Mr. Zada, now face repatriation. Less than three weeks after the deadline's expiration, the Pakistani minister of state for interior, Talal Chaudhry, announced at a news conference that more than 80,000 Afghans had already been expelled. The deportations could subject the refugees to perilous conditions under the heavy hand of Taliban rule in Afghanistan. And, if they are married to Pakistanis, it could mean leaving their families behind. 'What will happen to my children and me if Zada is taken away?' Ms. Bibi said. The campaign to deport Afghans coincides with a resurgent conflict with India, Pakistan's eastern neighbor and archrival. India has ordered almost all Pakistani citizens to leave the country, part of its response to a terrorist attack in Kashmir that it has linked to Pakistan. The Pakistani government, which denies any involvement in the attack and has asked for an international investigation into it, responded by canceling most Indian citizens' visas. Pakistan's crackdown on Afghans follows years of tightening restrictions on Afghan residency. Recent U.N. reports indicate that over 910,000 Afghans have been deported from the country since September 2023. The deportations have been motivated largely by officials' frustration with the Taliban government, which they accuse of harboring Pakistani militants responsible for deadly attacks inside Pakistan. The Taliban deny those allegations, but tensions continue to rise. Pakistan's military said on Sunday that it had killed 54 militants trying to infiltrate the country from Afghanistan over the previous two nights. Pakistan said the militants had been 'khawarij' — a term it often uses for the Pakistani Taliban. The Pakistani government has also been emboldened by a tide of anti-immigrant sentiment around the world. It has drawn parallels to recent deportation efforts in the United States and various European countries to justify its own campaign. Among the Afghans facing deportation in Pakistan are those who arrived after the Taliban seized power in August 2021 and now await resettlement in Western countries, including the United States. Pakistan extended the deadline for their relocation to another country to Wednesday, after which they will again face deportation. Their fate became increasingly uncertain in January when President Trump issued an executive order suspending all refugee admissions to the United States. The decision left thousands of Afghans stranded in Pakistan with no clear recourse. In October 2023, during an earlier wide-ranging effort to expel undocumented Afghans, Mr. Zada was detained. He narrowly avoided deportation only after Ms. Bibi's father paid a last-minute bribe to secure his release. This year's renewed deportation campaign forced Mr. Zada and his family to leave their home. Ms. Bibi's father offered them shelter, putting himself at risk. At the news conference this month, Mr. Chaudhry warned of strict repercussions for anyone who helped Afghans stay in the country illegally. Rights groups say that the plight of refugees like Mr. Zada — Afghans married to Pakistani citizens — is one of the most overlooked aspects of Pakistan's deportation drive. While no official data on the subject is available, rights groups like the Joint Action Committee for Refugees, a Pakistani civil society network, estimate that thousands of Afghan-Pakistani marriages have taken place. They are especially common in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, Pakistani provinces that share a porous border with Afghanistan. Such weddings are often conducted through tribal customs or informal community ceremonies. Though socially recognized, the unions frequently lack formal documentation, such as marriage certificates, making it hard for the Afghan spouse to obtain legal residency or citizenship. Even in big cities like Karachi, Afghans with Pakistani spouses often face obstacles to formally registering their marriages or the births of their children. According to Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority, or NADRA, foreign spouses of Pakistani citizens are eligible for a Pakistan origin card, which would grant them visa-free entry and the right to stay indefinitely and own property. But many Afghan applicants are denied the card. Legal experts have told Mr. Zada that his marriage to Ms. Bibi gives him a chance, if a slim one, of staying in Pakistan legally. But the lengthy process and the high fees are prohibitive. Mr. Zada earns just $3 a day, he said. Some Pakistanis married to Afghans have turned to the judiciary for relief from the bureaucratic obstacles. In July, a court in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ruled in favor of 65 petitioners, affirming that their Afghan spouses were eligible for dual nationality. But such cases are uncommon. Umer Ijaz Gilani, an expert on refugee rights based in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, said the authorities had deliberately fostered the perception that refugees had few options for obtaining legal residency or citizenship, despite constitutional guarantees and numerous rulings from higher courts. 'The core problem lies in the government's erratic and inadequate implementation of existing safeguards, not in the laws themselves,' Mr. Gilani said. Refugee-rights activists also say that NADRA withholds origin cards from applicants who qualify, often citing the need for clearance from Pakistan's intelligence agencies. NADRA officials declined to comment on those claims. The Pakistani authorities remain firmly committed to the deportation campaign. Officials say that all undocumented Afghans must leave the country and re-enter on valid visas, regardless of marital or familial connections. But current immigration restrictions can make it almost impossible for them to secure visas after they leave. Mukaram Shah, an undocumented Afghan migrant married to a Pakistani woman, had been living on the outskirts of Quetta, a city about 70 miles from the Afghan border. In December 2023, he was arrested by the police while working as a porter at a local vegetable market. Without any legal proceedings, his family said, Mr. Shah was taken directly to the Chaman border crossing and deported to Afghanistan. 'We could not even say a proper goodbye,' said his wife, Palwasha, who, like many women from rural Pakistan, goes by a single name. Her family, citing security and economic concerns, refused to let her follow her husband, believing he would return on a long-term visa. But under the current crackdown on Afghan refugees, that hope is fading. 'Every night, my children ask when their father will come home,' Palwasha said, her voice breaking. 'I don't have an answer. All I can do is pray.'
Business Mayor
24-04-2025
- Business Mayor
USCIS Assists FBI Investigation Leading to Guilty Plea in ISIS-Inspired Election Day Terror Plot
OKLAHOMA CITY — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) played a critical role in an FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) investigation that brought a would-be terrorist to justice. The investigation resulted in an Afghan national pleading guilty to federal terrorism-related firearms charges in connection with a planned Election Day attack inspired by ISIS. Abdullah Haji Zada, 18, a lawful permanent resident originally from Afghanistan, pleaded guilty to knowingly receiving, attempting to receive, and conspiring to receive firearms and ammunition with the intent to commit a federal crime of terrorism. Court documents reveal that Zada and co-conspirator Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, obtained two AK-47-style rifles and 500 rounds of ammunition for a planned November 2024 terrorist attack on behalf of ISIS. Zada, who was 17 at the time of his arrest in October 2024, entered his plea as an adult and faces up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. As part of his plea agreement, he will also be removed to Afghanistan after serving his sentence and has waived all rights to appeal or seek asylum. USCIS's Oklahoma City-based Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS) JTTF Liaison provided key immigration law expertise to federal and local law enforcement partners during the investigation. USCIS' FDNS officers focus on identifying potential national security and public safety threats in collaboration with law enforcement and intelligence agencies. FDNS safeguards the integrity of the nation's immigration system and ensures that immigration benefits are not granted to individuals that may pose a threat to national security or public safety. The FBI Oklahoma City Field Office's Joint Terrorism Task Force includes USCIS, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Marshals Service, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, and multiple local law enforcement agencies. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Oklahoma and the Justice Department's National Security Division. For more information on USCIS and its programs, please visit or follow us on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn.
