New Delhi: Canadian authorities Wednesday arrested a 20-year-old Pakistani national, Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, for allegedly attempting to enter the US illegally to carry out a terrorist attack against a Jewish centre in Brooklyn, New York.
Khan, also known as Shahzeb Jadoon, was alleged to be a supporter of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and was apprehended just 19 kilometres from the US-Canada border.
According to a federal complaint filed in the Southern District of New York, Khan had been plotting the attack on or around 7 October, coinciding with the end of the first year since the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel. US law enforcement suspect that he planned to use automatic and semi-automatic weapons in the “coordinated assault”.
According to the complaint, Khan admitted in conversations with two undercover law enforcement officers that he and a US-based ISIS supporter “had been planning” to carry out “largest Attack on US soil since 9/11”.
Khan allegedly also discussed with them how to obtain AR-style rifles, ammunition, and other material needed for the attack.
The complaint added that he had been active on social media and encrypted messaging apps since November 2023, expressing his support for ISIS.
He also sent photographs of the Jewish centre in Brooklyn that he planned to attack, telling the undercover agents that it would be “perfect” for targeting Jews because of its large Jewish population.
“New York is perfect to target Jews,” Khan allegedly said in one of the communications, adding that they could “rack up easily a lot of Jews” even without targeting a specific event.
Khan is charged with one count of attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organisation. If convicted, he may face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
“The Justice Department will continue to work closely with our domestic and international partners to aggressively counter the threat posed by ISIS and other terrorist organisations and their supporters,” said US Attorney General Merrick Garland as he thanked Canadian authorities for quick action. Further, a justice department release stated that the FBI New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles field offices are investigating the case.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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Terrorism in blood of Islam. It’s doesn’t matter where you live