Courtroom sketch of Muhanad Mahmoud al-Farekh

VOA News
January 6, 2016

A U.S. federal court in New York Wednesday charged an American citizen with conspiring to set off a truck bomb outside a U.S. military base in Afghanistan in 2009.

Muhanad Mahmoud al-Farekh could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted.

“Farekh, a citizen of the United States, allegedly turned his back on our country and tried to kill U.S. soldiers in the course of executing their sworn duty to keep us safe,” U.S. Attorney Robert L. Capers said Wednesday.

According to the indictment, two co-conspirators drove two separate truck bombs outside the military base in January 2009. One bomb exploded while the second one did not go off. Investigators found Farekh’s fingerprints on packing tape inside the truck that did not explode.

Farekh also was charged with providing support to al-Qaida. He is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.

U.S. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin calls counterterrorism his highest priority and says his office will bring to justice anyone who tries to harm Americans who “bravely risk their lives” to defend the nation.