WASHINGTON: Just one day before the terrorist attack against National Guard soldiers in the nation’s capital, another Afghan national, paroled into the United States under President Biden’s “Operation Allies Welcome”, was arrested in Fort Worth, Texas, for threatening to blow up a building, it emerged on Saturday.

Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin of the Department of Homeland Security said in a post on X that the suspect, Mohammad Dawood Alokozay, had uploaded a TikTok video showing himself assembling what he suggested was an explosive device. She said the video indicated that the Fort Worth area was his intended target.

Alokozay was arrested on Tuesday by the Texas Department of Public Safety and the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and charged with making terroristic threats.

The arrest came less than 24 hours before the violent attack in Washington in which another Afghan national, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, shot and critically wounded two members of the US National Guard. Lakanwal, who had been in the United States for more than a year, opened fire during a routine patrol near a residential neighborhood not far from the Capitol. Authorities described the shooting as a deliberate act of terror. He was taken into custody shortly afterward.

Suspect uploaded video on social media showing himself assembling ‘explosive device’

The two back-to-back incidents involving Afghan nationals have added urgency to President Donald Trump’s new immigration actions. The president has already announced a “reverse migration” initiative aimed at removing immigrants who “do not belong here or do not add benefit to our country”. He has also ordered federal agencies to conduct heightened security reviews of Afghans who entered the United States under Operation Allies Welcome, calling for a case-by-case reassessment of their status.

Trump has vowed a permanent halt to migration from all third world countries and directed his administration to reexamine every refugee, parole, and humanitarian program created during the Biden years. More directives are expected as agencies expand their scrutiny of recent arrivals.

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2025