A Pakistani man was recently charged with planning an ISIS-inspired attack against New York’s Jewish community. It would have occurred on the one-year anniversary of the Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, also known as Shahzeb Jadoon, pleaded guilty to “attempting to commit acts of terrorism ... and carry out a mass shooting with automatic weapons at a prominent Jewish center in Brooklyn, N.Y.” in 2024, according to the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Public Affairs. (The planned attack was also reported by The Jerusalem Post.)
In November 2023, Khan posted on social media and began communicating with others about his support for ISIS, including “distributing ISIS propaganda videos and literature.” This occurred while he was still based in Canada, the Justice Department noted.
He subsequently began planning terror attacks in the United States in support of ISIS by communicating with two others, who were undercover officers. Khan was not aware of their true identity.
He told them of his intention to carry out a terror attack in an undisclosed city within the United States, including using assault rifles to “target Israeli Jewish Chabad” centers “scattered around the city,” the Justice Department noted.
According to the government, Khan instructed the undercover officers to obtain assault rifles, ammunition and other materials. He shared that he was a human smuggler and could cross the border from Canada into the United States.
“New York is perfect to target Jews because it has the largest Jewish population in America,” Khan told the undercover officers.
“Even if we don’t attack an event, we could easily rack up a lot of Jews ... we are going to slaughter them,” he added, the Justice Department noted.
He also sent a photograph to the undercover officers of a specific area within the target location, continuing to urge them to acquire rifles, as well as hunting knives to “slit their throats,” and other offensive terror weapons, reiterating his desire to carry out the attack in support of ISIS.
On Sept. 4, 2024, he attempted to reach the U.S.-Canada border. He had traveled from Toronto before being stopped and arrested near Ormstown (Canada), approximately 12 miles from the border, the Justice Department stated.
Washington sought to extradite Khan, achieving this in June 2025.
The attempted terrorism against New York’s Jewish community by a Pakistani national is not shocking, given the fact that this year, Pakistan is the country most influenced by terrorism.
According to the 2026 Global Terrorism Index, Pakistan recorded the highest average impact of terrorism score in South Asia for the third consecutive year and now ranks as the country most impacted by terrorism globally.
Moreover, Pakistan has been ranked among the 10 countries most influenced by terrorism every year since the Index’s inception.
The four deadliest terrorist organizations in 2025 were Islamic State (IS), Jamaat Nusrat Al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM), Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and al-Shabaab, according to the Index.
A little less than 70% of deaths from terrorism occurred in five countries: Pakistan, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Niger and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Deaths from terrorism in Pakistan are now at their highest level since 2013, added the report: “In South Asia, the long-running tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan erupted into open conflict in February 2026, with Pakistan declaring a state of war and launching airstrikes on Kabul and Kandahar. Open conflict between the two countries is likely to displace populations, weaken border controls, and create the security vacuums in which groups like the TTP and ISKP have historically thrived.”
It is the sixth consecutive year in which an increase in terrorism deaths has been recorded in Pakistan.
Hence, American aid to Pakistan and who it benefits has for decades remained a controversial topic. As professor S. Akbar Zaidi observed, “U.S. aid to Pakistan may, in effect, have made things far worse for all supposed beneficiaries.”
In a 2017 report titled “Pakistan Army and Terrorism: An Unholy Alliance,” the European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS) noted:
“Pakistan’s relationship with the United States-led ‘War on Terror’ has been highly ambivalent. On one hand, Pakistan played a vital role in facilitating the U.S.-led intervention in Afghanistan shortly after 9/11 attacks. … Paradoxically, on the other hand, Pakistan and its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) continued to remain staunch supporters of militant organizations, including the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Haqqani Network and the Afghan Taliban. It remains an enigma how Osama bin Laden, who orchestrated the 9/11 attacks, was living in a city with three Pakistani Army regiments, less than a mile from the military academy, without the cognizance of the State.”
For decades, Pakistan has been a safe haven for terrorists as their military establishment has used some groups for its own political purposes. The EFSAS noted in its report,
“The fact that Pakistan still sees terrorist groups and terrorists differently is also one of the major bottlenecks. The army, along with the ISI [Pakistan’s intelligence organization], still distinguishes between ‘bad’ terrorists (those who target Pakistani Security Forces) and ‘good’ terrorists (those who advance its strategic objectives vis-à-vis Afghanistan, India and Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir).
“Even after Pakistan’s post-9/11 partnership with the United States, several Islamist groups continue to enjoy close ties with the State and popularity among certain sections of the public.”
The report uses “Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI)” as an example of how Pakistan tolerates what it perceives to be “good terrorists.” The group participates in electoral politics while also describing jihad as a sacred right and obligation, while it keeps encouraging students of madrassas (Islamic schools) toward militancy.
Pakistan’s ranking of first on the Global Terrorism Index is sadly a problem of its own making. Instead of seeking to eradicate all terror groups in the country, Pakistan has chosen to enable some while fighting others. And now the terrorism situation and casualties appear out of control in the country.
The report by EFSAS likens the massive growth of terrorism in Pakistan to Frankenstein creating its own monsters: “The status quo is neither encouraging and nor does Pakistan seem to possess the capacity as well as the will to eradicate terrorism, as it is constrained by the overlapping of various terrorist groups and their memberships which have successfully operated within (and outside Pakistan), that too with the complicity of its Army and ISI; Pakistan cannot tackle the Pakistani Taliban and their sectarian collaborators while it still fosters the Afghan Taliban and other Deobandi groups, such as the Jaish-e-Mohammad, that operate in India.
“The terrorist groups, which draw inspiration from the religious groups in Pakistan, have developed into Frankenstein’s Monsters for both people and the State, coupled with a selective approach of security agencies towards counterterrorism, which makes ‘Peace in Pakistan’ or mellowing down of ‘Pakistan-sponsored terrorism’ in its neighborhood a distant dream. The more because according to many in the Pakistan Army and ISI, terrorism still has an external utility in Afghanistan, India and Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.”
The report concluded: “Pakistan shall continue to be a hotbed of Islamic militancy as long as the operative terrorist organizations resort to violence in the name of Islam and the public keeps showcasing acceptance to this phenomenon.”
Pakistani society at large needs to realize the importance of the words of former U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, when she said: “You can’t keep snakes in your backyard and expect them to only bite your neighbor.”
