A father of six who fought shoulder-to-shoulder with U.S. troops in Afghanistan died just hours after he was detained by ICE.
Mohommad Nazeer Paktyawal, 41, served as an Afghan special forces soldier from 2005 and worked alongside U.S. Army Special Forces for more than a decade before he was evacuated by the U.S. and resettled while he sought asylum, according to the AfghanEvac nonprofit.
Having moved to America to start a new life with his family, he had been preparing to drive his children to school on Friday, March 13, when agents in unmarked vehicles surrounded him and detained him.
Within 24 hours, he was dead.
In a statement, his family said, “We still cannot understand how this happened. He was only 41 years old and was a strong and healthy man.
“Right now our family is trying to comfort six children who have lost their father. His children keep asking when their father will come home.
“We are heartbroken and trying to process this loss. We ask for prayers for Nazeer and for strength for his children and our family during this painful time.”
His brother Naseer told CBS Texas/KTVT: “I want justice for my brother.”
Paktyawal and his family had been evacuated from Afghanistan by the United States on Aug. 30, 2021, entered through the official evacuation process, and later applied for asylum while living in Richardson, Texas.
AfghanEvac says he held work authorization and a Social Security number. As the primary breadwinner for his family—with his youngest child being just 18 months old—he had been working in a bakery and deli in the Dallas area while his case remained pending.
Details on what exactly happened after Paktyawal’s arrest are scarce. AfghanEvac says Paktyawal contacted family members from ICE custody and told them he was not feeling well.
The group says his family was told he was admitted to Parkland Hospital in Dallas at about 11:45 p.m. on Friday, was still alive at around 8 a.m. on Saturday, and was dead by noon. The cause of death has not been made public.
ICE released a statement Sunday describing Paktyawal as a “criminal illegal alien” that made no mention of his history helping U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The statement began with a breakdown of what the agency described as Paktyawal’s “known criminal history” before getting to the circumstances of his death.
According to the agency, he had complained of shortness of breath and chest pains on Friday evening, prompting his transfer to Parkland Hospital. The next morning, medical staff noticed during breakfast that his tongue had become swollen, prompting a medical response and repeated resuscitation attempts. Despite “multiple lifesaving efforts,” he was pronounced dead at 9:10 a.m., the statement said, noting that an “active investigation” is underway.
AfghanEvac has called for an immediate investigation. Its president, Shawn VanDiver, said it was “highly unusual” for an otherwise healthy 41-year-old man to die less than a day after entering government custody.
The group says there are still unanswered questions, including why Paktyawal was detained, when ICE first became aware he was ill, what care he received in custody, and what led to his transfer to Parkland.
AfghanEvac also noted that the “known criminal history” referenced by ICE involved incidents that did not result in criminal charges and that Paktyawal had not been convicted of any crime.
There has been no outside confirmation of any criminal history, and ICE did not specify where or by whom Paktyawal had previously been arrested, saying only that “local authorities” had arrested him in September 2025 for alleged SNAP fraud. No details were provided on a second arrest “for theft” that ICE said happened in November that same year.
Paktyawal is at least the 12th person to die in ICE detention this year. Last year, 31 people died after being detained by ICE, the highest figure in two decades.
The Daily Beast contacted ICE and Parkland Health for comment. A spokesperson for Parkland said that federal privacy laws prohibited discussion of patient information and directed requests to the Department of Homeland Security.
