NEW MEXICO: A jury in New Mexico has found an Afghan asylum seeker guilty of murdering a Pakistani immigrant in one of three ambush shootings of Muslim men that terrorized Muhammad Syed, 53, faces life in prison for the first-degree murder of Aftab Hussein, 41, who was found dead in southeast Albuquerque on July 26, 2022, next to a vehicle that police said had been shot.
Syed is accused of two other 2022 murders that some national Muslim groups and the media have linked to sectarian violence, but police and Albuquerque’s Islamic community blame on interpersonal disputes.
During the week-long trial, jurors heard how Syed’s cell phone showed he was in the area of the shooting when it happened, and an inspection of spent cartridges found at the scene matched a semi-automatic rifle found in Syed’s home.
Syed is also accused of killing 27-year-old city planner Muhammed Afzaal Hussain on August 1, 2022, and killing truck driver Naeem Hussain four days later, both on streets near Central Avenue in Albuquerque.
All three men killed were of Pakistani or Afghan origin and had prayed with Syed at Albuquerque’s largest mosque.
“The Muslim community is relieved that the person who was the murderer is behind bars and no other brother, no other son will fall victim to this hate monger,” Hussain’s brother Muhammad Imtiaz Hussain said, adding that a date had not yet been set. for court.
