Pakistan has increasingly become a breeding ground for global jihadist activity, with multiple recent cases indicating that Pakistani nationals are being radicalised, recruited, or enabled in ways that allow extremist threats to reach American soil, investigations accessed by CNN-News18 have revealed.
The conviction of Pakistani national Asif Merchant on March 6 is the latest example in what security officials say is a wider systemic problem tied to Pakistan’s terror ecosystem rather than isolated incidents.
Merchant, who was convicted in the United States, had allegedly received training from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Pakistan beginning in early 2023. According to investigators, he was later dispatched to the US in 2024 with a plan to hire hitmen to assassinate prominent American political figures, including Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and Nikki Haley as retaliation for the killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani.
Authorities said Merchant paid $5,000 to individuals he believed were contract killers—who were in fact undercover FBI agents—and conducted surveillance on potential targets. His case has raised concerns about how Pakistan’s environment can be exploited by foreign powers such as Iran to recruit and train operatives for anti-US operations.
However, Merchant’s case is only one chapter in a growing list of incidents involving Pakistani nationals linked to extremist plots abroad.
In September 2024, 20-year-old Pakistani national Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, also known as Shahzeb Jadoon, was arrested near the US border while living in Canada on a student permit. Investigators say Khan was planning an ISIS-inspired mass shooting at a Jewish center in Brooklyn, New York.
Authorities allege he aimed to carry out the attack around the anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks and intended to kill as many people as possible. Khan reportedly attempted to recruit collaborators online, sought AR-style rifles and knives, and boasted the assault could become the largest attack on US soil since the September 11 attacks.
Khan was extradited to the United States in June 2025 and now faces charges of attempting to provide material support to ISIS and committing acts of terrorism transcending national borders. Investigators say the case demonstrates how extremist intent rooted in Pakistan can manifest in plots targeting the United States.
Another alarming case emerged in November 2025 when Pakistani national and University of Delaware student Luqmaan Khan was arrested after police discovered firearms, ammunition, a tactical vest, and a manifesto in his car and residence.
According to investigators, Khan had drafted plans for a campus mass shooting, writing that he intended to kill as many people as possible in pursuit of martyrdom. His notes reportedly included strategies to avoid detection and instructions for targeting responding police officers. During questioning, authorities said Khan described martyrdom as “one of the greatest things you can do."
Source: World News in news18.com, World Latest News, World News
