Pakistani man extradited to US from Canada over plot to attack Jewish centre on Oct 7 anniversary

New York: A Pakistani citizen living in Canada has been extradited to the US to face charges for plotting an ISIS-inspired mass shooting at a Jewish centre in New York City around the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks, US officials said.

Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, also known as Shahzeb Jadoon, was extradited to the US on Tuesday in connection with an indictment filed in the Southern District of New York, the Department of Justice said in a press release.

FBI Director Kash Patel said Khan allegedly tried to enter the US to commit the attack and planned an ISIS-inspired mass shooting on October 7, 2024, around the first anniversary of the 2023 Hamas terrorist attack in Israel.

"Major news… earlier this afternoon, Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, a Pakistani citizen residing in Canada, was extradited to the United States on charges of attempting to provide material support to ISIS and attempting to commit acts of terrorism," Patel said in a post on X.

Khan is scheduled to make an initial appearance in court on Wednesday.

US Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York said Khan planned to use automatic weapons to kill as many members of the Jewish community as possible, all in support of ISIS, the press release said.

In a communication with undercover law enforcement officers, Khan claimed that if the plan succeeded, it would be "the largest attack on US soil since 9/11." He was provisionally arrested in Canada in September last year based on a complaint filed in the Southern District of New York.

According to the complaint, Khan tried to travel from Canada to New York to carry out the mass shooting at a Jewish centre in Brooklyn.

Around November 2023, Khan began posting on social media and communicating with others on an encrypted messaging application about his support for ISIS, distributing ISIS propaganda videos and literature, among other things.

Subsequently, he began communicating with two undercover law enforcement officers and confirmed planning an attack along with a US-based associate in an unnamed American city.

Khan said he had been actively attempting to create “a real offline cell” of ISIS supporters to carry out a “coordinated assault” in a US city using AR-style rifles to “target Israeli Jewish chabads . . . scattered all around” the city. He also repeatedly instructed the undercover officers to obtain AR-style assault rifles, ammunition, and other materials to carry out the attacks, including “some good hunting [knives] so we can slit their throats.” Khan identified the specific locations in the city where the attacks would take place and provided details about how he would cross the border from Canada into the US for these.

During these conversations, he emphasised that “Oct 7th and Oct 11th are the best days for targeting the Jews” because “Oct 7 they will surely have some protests and Oct 11 is Yom Kippur,” referring to Judaism’s holiest day.

He changed the target location to New York City around August 20 and decided to target the Jewish centre in Brooklyn.

He told the agents that New York is "perfect to target jews” as it has the “largest Jewish population" in the US and said, “Even if we don't attack a[n] Event[,] we could rack up easily a lot of jews.” Khan told the undercover officers that he planned to carry out this attack on or around October 7, 2024 — which he recognised as the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks in Israel by Hamas.

As part of his plan, Khan attempted to reach the US-Canada border around September 4 by using three separate cars to travel across Canada towards the US.

Canadian authorities stopped him in or around Ormstown, approximately 12 miles from the border.

Khan is charged with one count of attempting to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) terrorist organisation and one count of attempting to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries.

If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.