OKLAHOMA CITY — A native and citizen of Afghanistan who was living in Oklahoma City pleaded guilty in Oklahoma City’s federal district court last Friday to two terrorism-related offenses.
Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, admitted conspiring and attempting to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization, and receiving, attempting to receive, and conspiring to receive firearms and ammunition in furtherance of a federal crime of terrorism.
“The defendant admits he planned and obtained firearms to carry out a violent terror attack on Election Day in 2024, a plot that was detected and disrupted through the FBI and our partners,” said FBI Director Kash Patel.
“A violent terrorist attack on American soil was thwarted, and those responsible are being held accountable,” said Robert J. Troester, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.
Tawhedi admitted that between June 2024 and October 2024 he conspired with at least one other individual to purchase two AK-47 rifles, 500 rounds of ammunition, and 10 magazines, with the intent to carry out a mass-casualty attack on or around Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024, on behalf of ISIS. According to a criminal complaint affidavit filed in the case, Tawhedi communicated with an ISIS facilitator about his plan to purchase firearms for use in the terror plot, including asking the individual whether 500 rounds of ammunition would be sufficient.
Tawhedi and his co-conspirator, Abdullah Haji Zada, were arrested on Oct. 7, 2024, after purchasing the firearms and ammunition from an undercover FBI employee. Zada, 18, pleaded guilty April 12 to the firearms offense in connection with his role in the terror plot and awaits sentencing. Zada, who was 17 at the time of his arrest, entered his guilty plea as an adult and will be sentenced as an adult.
Zada is a native and citizen of Afghanistan and a U.S. lawful permanent resident who entered the U.S. on a special immigrant visa in 2018. At the time of his arrest, he was living in a house in Moore with his parents and five siblings aged 6 to 21.
Tawhedi lived in an apartment in Oklahoma City with his wife, who is Zada’s sister, and their infant child.
In a Telegram application installed on his iPhone, Tawhedi sent a message last September to someone identified as Abdul Malik – an individual who “facilitated recruitment, training, and indoctrination of persons who expressed interest in terrorist activity” – and told him they sold the house in Moore for $185,000. “We’ll receive the money by the 15th of October” and afterward “we will begin our duty … we will get ready for the election day.”
Tawhedi indicated at least some of those funds would be used to repatriate eight family members – his mother- in-law, his wife and daughter, three sisters-in-law and two brothers-in-law – back to Afghanistan. Tawhedi “believed they could live according to pure Islam” there, the FBI investigator wrote in his affidavit.
The family’s one-way flight to Kabul was scheduled to depart from Dallas on Oct. 17, 2024. However, Tawhedi and Zada were arrested on Oct. 7, 2024, moments after they purchased the AK-47 rifles and ammunition, the FBI agent related.
It is unclear whether the family members subsequently were allowed to leave the U.S. for Afghanistan.
At sentencing, Tawhedi faces a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison for the material support charge and up to 15 years in prison for the firearms charge. Zada faces up to 15 years in federal prison.
Also, upon completion of any sentence, Tawhedi and Zada will be permanently removed from the United States and barred from reentry under stipulated judicial orders of removal to Afghanistan.