Afghan National Arrested in Washington on Suspicion of Supporting ISIS-K

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has announced the arrest of an Afghan national, Jan Shah Safi, in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., on suspicion of supporting the ISIS-Khorasan group. According to the department, Safi was brought to the U.S. during the evacuation process following the fall of Kabul, orchestrated by the Biden administration.

Officials said Safi had been living in the U.S. without valid residency documents and was residing in the country illegally. In an official statement, the Department of Homeland Security also disclosed that he had allegedly assisted in procuring weapons for his father, who is reportedly a commander of a militant group in Afghanistan.

The agency criticized the Biden administration’s policies, stating that nearly 190,000 Afghan nationals entered the U.S. without proper background checks or valid documentation. It described the situation as one of the “worst national security crises” in U.S. history and emphasized that President Donald Trump has been undertaking significant actions since January of this year to address the issue.

Safi’s arrest comes amid a string of security incidents involving Afghan nationals in the U.S. Just one day earlier, a man identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal—who reportedly had previously cooperated with the CIA—opened fire on U.S. National Guard forces near the White House.

In another case, the U.S. Department of Justice reported that Dawood Alkozai, an Afghan-American resident of Texas, has been summoned to a federal court. He is facing legal charges for allegedly threatening to carry out a suicide bombing, constructing explosive devices, and making threats against U.S. citizens.

The mass arrival of Afghan nationals into the U.S. following the Taliban’s military takeover of Kabul and the abrupt withdrawal of American forces in August 2021—without thorough security screening—has now emerged as a considerable challenge for the U.S. government. The Biden administration’s unplanned decisions, along with the Taliban’s own actions, have led to a wave of mass migration from Afghanistan.