US's Minnesota indicts Pakistani doctor for trying to help ISIS

A Pakistani doctor was indicted in Minnesota, US, over an attempt to provide material support to the terrorist organisation ISIS. On May 15, a federal grand jury sitting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, returned a single-count indictment against 28-year-old Muhammad Masood. He was initially charged in a criminal complaint on March 19 and is currently in custody pending further court proceedings.

According to the indictment and documents filed in court, Masood, a licensed medical doctor in Pakistan, was formerly employed as a Research Coordinator at a medical clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, under an H-1B Visa.

Between January-March 2020, Masood made several statements to others, including pledging his allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) and its leader and expressing his desire to travel to Syria to fight for ISIS.

Masood also expressed his desire to conduct “lone wolf” terrorist attacks in the US. On February 21, Masood purchased a plane ticket from Chicago, Illinois to Amman, Jordan, and from there planned to travel to Syria. On March 16, 2020, Masood’s travel plans changed because Jordan closed its borders to incoming travel due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.

He then made a new plan to fly from Minneapolis to Los Angeles to meet up with an individual who he believed would assist him with travel via cargo ship to deliver him to ISIS territory.

On March 19, Masood travelled from Rochester to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) to board a flight bound for Los Angeles, California. Upon arrival at MSP, Masood checked in for his flight and was subsequently arrested by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.