Pakistani doctor jailed in US for attempting to help Daesh

Pakistani doctor jailed in US for attempting to help Daesh

Pakistani doctor jailed in US for attempting to help Daesh.

Muhammad Masood, a 31-year-old licensed Pakistani doctor on a work visa in the United States, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for attempting to support the terrorist organization Daesh.

Masood, a Rochester resident, was sentenced to 216 months in prison, equivalent to 18 years, followed by five years of supervised release for his role in attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, according to a press release issued by the US Department of Justice.

According to court documents, Masood previously worked as a research coordinator at a medical clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, on an H-1B visa.

Also read: Daesh claims responsibility for attack on Chinese hotel in Kabul

According to the official statement, Masood’s activities between January 2020 and March 2020 were aimed at joining the militant group and assisting with terrorist activities in the United States.

“Between January and March 2020, Masood used an encrypted messaging application to facilitate his travel overseas to join a terrorist organization,” according to the statement.

Furthermore, Masood expressed his desire to affiliate with Daesh, pledging allegiance to the designated terrorist organization and its leader. He had also expressed a desire to carry out “lone wolf” terrorist attacks in the United States.

As a Pakistani doctor jailed in US for attempting to help Daesh, on February 21, 2020, he bought a plane ticket from Chicago, Illinois, to Amman, Jordan, with the intention of continuing on to Syria. His travel plans were thwarted, however, due to the closure of Jordan’s borders under COVID-19 travel restrictions on March 16, 2020.

As a result, Masood changed his plans and decided to fly from Minneapolis to Los Angeles, where he expected to receive assistance in traveling via cargo ship to Daesh-claimed territory.

Masood traveled from Rochester to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) on March 19, 2020, to catch a flight to Los Angeles, California.

However, he was apprehended by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) upon his arrival at the airport.

Masood had previously pleaded guilty on August 16, the previous year, to attempting to provide material support to Daesh. Following an extensive investigation by the FBI’s JTTF, Senior Judge Paul A. Magnuson handed down an 18-year prison sentence on Friday.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *