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41-year-old Mohammed Nazeer Paktyawal, an Afghan father who worked with the US force in Afghanistan in 2021, died in ICE custody within a day after being arrested in North Texas. Paktyawal had been living in Texas since 2021 as his asylum application remained pending with the administration.
He started working at an Afghan bakery in the Dallas area. According to reports, he was detained around 7 am on March 13 outside his apartment when he was going to drop his children off at school. Paktyawal contacted his family from detention and informed them that he was not feeling well. At 11.45 pm, he was admitted to a hospital. The next morning, the relatives were told he was under treatment, but by noon on March 14, they were informed that Paktyawal had died.
He has a wife and six children, one of the children in a US citizen.
Who was Mohammed Nazeer Paktyawal?
According to AfghanEvac, Paktyawal started serving in the army in Afghanistan in 2005. He served for more than a decade as an Afghan special forces soldier. During the war in Afghanistan, he worked alongside units of the U.S. Army Special Forces, including the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), in Paktika province.As the US forces left Afghanistan, his family was evacuated by the US.
He entered the US through Washington Dulles International Airport on August 21, 2021, where he was paroled into the country by an immigration officer, according to ICE. His parole authorization expired on August 20, 2025, the agency said in a news release.ICE said he was arrested because his legal status had expired. AfghanEvac said he completed his asylum interview and had work authorization and a Social Security number.
He was not in the country illegally and was in the process of complying with the immigration formalities. ICE said he did not have any medical history when he was arrested and he was immediately taken to a hospital when he complained of shortness of breath. "He was a hero to his family, to his people, and to his country," his brother Naseer Paktyawal said, referring to his decade-long military work and collaboration with the US Army. Mohammed Nazeer Paktyawal was arrested by the local authorities in September 2025 on a felony charge related to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program fraud and again in November on a theft charge. AfghanEvac said the arrests did not result in criminal charges and he was released.
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