An Afghan man has been arrested for allegedly planning a terror attack on election day in the United States.
The FBI said Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, was plotting the attack in the name of Islamic State and was going to target large crowds.
Mr Tawhedi and a juvenile co-conspirator were arrested after they attempted to buy two AK-47 rifles and ammunition, the FBI said.
He also allegedly liquidated his family's assets and bought one-way tickets to Afghanistan for his wife and child.
The FBI said Mr Tawhedi told investigators he and his alleged co-conspirator had expected to die as "martyrs" during the planned attack.
In a statement, FBI director Christopher Wray said terrorism was "still the department's number one priority" and authorities would "use every resource to protect the American people".
Mr Tawhedi was charged with conspiring and attempting to provide material support to Islamic State, considered a foreign terrorist organisation by the US.
Mr Tawhedi had been living in the US since 2021 on a special immigrant visa.
Last week, the Department of Homeland Security said the US threat environment was expected to remain high in the coming year due to several factors, including the 2024 election and the war in Gaza.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland said the government would "continue to combat the ongoing threat that ISIS [Islamic State] and its supporters pose to America's national security".
"We will identify, investigate, and prosecute the individuals who seek to terrorise the American people," he said in a statement.
The Islamic State terrorist organisation killed thousands of people before it was defeated in Iraq in 2017 and Syria in 2019.
ABC/wires
