ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday refuted Indian media claims linking a man arrested in the US on firearms charges to Pakistan, clarifying that the individual is an Afghan national.
The clarification came after several Indian outlets circulated misleading reports alleging that the suspect — identified by US authorities as 25-year-old Luqmaan Khan of Wilmington, Delaware — was Pakistani.
“Luqmaan Khan is an Afghan national who spent only a short period in Pakistan as an Afghan migrant,” Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi said. He added that Khan had spent most of his life in the United States.
According to the US Attorney’s Office, Khan was charged this week with illegally possessing a machine gun after police and federal agents discovered a cache of weapons and ammunition in his vehicle on November 24. Authorities said Khan resisted arrest before the vehicle search uncovered a loaded 357-caliber handgun fitted with a conversion-brace kit, several extended magazines, a ballistic plate, and a notebook containing a sketch of a building labelled “UD Police Station”.
A follow-up raid at his Wilmington residence on November 25 led to the recovery of a Glock 19 pistol fitted with an illegal machine-gun conversion device, a .556 rifle with scope and red-dot sight, 11 extended magazines, hollow-point ammunition and a tactical vest with ballistic plates, according to investigators.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and New Castle County Police Department are jointly handling the case. Khan faces charges of illegal machine-gun possession, an offence that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, along with multiple additional firearms-related charges and counts of resisting arrest.
