Safi entered the US in September 2021, under the Joe Biden administration’s “Operation Allies Welcome” programme. (Photo: DHS/ Reuters)
The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday arrested an Afghan national for alleged links to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-Khorasan (ISIS-K). The suspect, identified as Jaan Shah Safi, was arrested in Waynesboro, Virginia.
According to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Safi was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents.
Who is Jaan Shah Safi
Noem said Safi entered the US in September 2021, under the Joe Biden administration’s “Operation Allies Welcome” programme, which facilitated the migration of Afghan nationals who had worked with NATO troops during the invasion.
Operation Allies Welcome facilitated the migration of Afghan nationals who had worked with NATO troops during the invasion. (Photo: 477th Fighting Group)
He applied for Temporary Protected Status, but his application was terminated after Noem ended protection for Afghans.
According to Noem, Safi supported ISIS-K and also provided weapons to his father, who is a commander of a militia group in Afghanistan.
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What is ISIS-K
ISIS-K, also known as IS-K, is the official Islamic State affiliate operating in the Khorasan region comprising Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. Ever since the Taliban captured power in Afghanistan in August 2021, they have been engaged in a bloody conflict with the IS-K for territorial control.
“The Biden administration created one of the worst national security crises in American history. Biden let into our country nearly 190,000 unvetted Afghan aliens, only determining who they were and their intentions when they were already on American soil,” Noem said.
Safi was arrested more than a week after another Afghan national, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who also came to the US under Operation Allies Welcome, opened fire at two National Guard troops in Washington DC, killing one and critically injuring another.
A makeshift memorial of flags, flowers and other items is seen Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, outside of Farragut West Station, near the site where two National Guard members were shot in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Three Afghan nationals arrested
Safi is the Afghan national to be arrested in the US in recent days for terror links. On November 25, a day before the Washington shooting, Mohammad Dawood Alokozay, who also came to the US under Operation Allies Welcome, was arrested by local authorities and the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force for making bomb threats in Fort Worth, Texas. Alokozay posted a video of himself on TikTok indicating he was building a bomb with an intended target in the Fort Worth area.
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Safi entered the US in September 2021, under the Joe Biden administration’s “Operation Allies Welcome” programme. (Photo: DHS/ Reuters) 
