HE FOUGHT BESIDE U.S. SPECIAL FORCES — LESS THAN 24 HOURS AFTER ICE DETAINED HIM, HE WAS DEAD.
A former Afghan ally who fought beside U.S. troops died in ICE custody less than 24 hours after being detained, leaving six children behind.
Mohommad Nazeer Paktyawal spent years fighting alongside American troops in Afghanistan. Beginning in 2005, he worked with U.S. Army Special Forces as part of Afghan special forces units battling the Taliban.
When the United States withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021, Paktyawal and his family were evacuated to America.
Like thousands of Afghan allies who fought beside U.S. troops, he believed the country he helped defend would protect his family.
Instead, he died in ICE custody.
Paktyawal, 41, had been living in Richardson, Texas, with his wife and six children while his asylum case was still pending. He worked at an Afghan halal market and was the primary provider for his family, including an 18-month-old infant.
Early Friday morning, federal agents arrested him outside his apartment while he was taking his children to school.
Less than 24 hours later, he was dead.
Officials have not publicly explained the cause.
Paktyawal is at least the 12th person to die in ICE detention in 2026 as detentions surge across the United States.
Advocates say the circumstances surrounding his death demand an immediate federal investigation.
For Paktyawal’s family, statistics do not matter.
A father walked his children to school on Friday morning.
By Saturday, his children were left without him.
He fought beside American soldiers.
He trusted the country he helped defend.
And now his children must grow up with a question no family should ever have to ask:
How does a man who fought America’s war die in America’s custody?
Where does accountability begin?
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This is a crisis.
People are dying in ICE custody. Families are losing fathers, mothers, and children inside a detention system that operates largely out of public view.
Americans Against ICE exists so these deaths cannot disappear.
This work documents detention abuse, preserves evidence, and forces public accountability when people die in government custody.
If stories like Paktyawal’s disappear, the next death disappears with them.
This is horrible! He paid his due to become a citizen. He should have been fast tracked to start with. ICE is a murder-for-hire organization - mercenaries. Instead of sending our soldiers to war these men are aching for a fight, send them.
We need to release the names of all on staff at his facility