Afghan Man Arrested in the U.S. on Suspicion of Supporting ISIS-K
Tawazon – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Wednesday that Jan Shah Safi, an Afghan evacuee, has been arrested in Virginia on suspicion of providing support to ISIS-K. Safi was transferred to the United States after the fall of Kabul in 2021.
According to ICE officials, Safi provided support to the Islamic State of Iraq as well as ISIS-K. Safi, ICE officials say, also provided weapons to his father, who is a commander of a militia group in his native Afghanistan.
Safi entered the U.S. on Sept. 8, 2021, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as part of Biden’s massive Afghan resettlement operation. He subsequently applied for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) once in the U.S., but his application was terminated after DHS Secretary Kristi Noem ended TPS for Afghans, making Safi an illegal alien.
Kristi Noem, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, said: “Today, our heroic ICE officers arrested Jaan Shah Safi, a terrorist who provided material support to ISIS-K. This terrorist was arrested miles from our nation’s capital where our brave National Guard heroes, Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe, were shot just days ago by another unvetted Afghan terrorist brought into our country.”
The recent arrests have intensified criticism from officials aligned with President Donald Trump, who argue that the vetting process for Afghan evacuees was inadequate.
Earlier, on November 25, Afghan national Mohammad Dawood Alokozay was arrested by local authorities and FBI agents in Fort Worth, Texas, after having allegedly posted a video of himself on TikTok claiming he was plotting a terrorist attack in th area.
A day later, Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal allegedly shot National Guardsmen Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe in an attack in Washington, DC.