Afghan man charged with third New Mexico Muslim murder

A New Mexico grand jury on Monday charged Muhammad Syed, an Afghan refugee, with the murder of a third Muslim man in ambush shootings that have shaken the immigrant community in the US state's largest city.

Mobile phone evidence allowed prosecutors to allegedly link Syed, 51, to the 5 August murder of truck business owner Naeem Hussain in Albuquerque, according to a Bernalillo County District Attorney's office statement.

Police previously charged Syed with the killings of café employee Aftab Hussein on 26 July and urban planning director Muhammad Afzaal Hussain on 1 August in the same area of southeast Albuquerque.

"Additional evidence deriving from cell phones came to light enabling us to present the homicide of Naeem Hussain to the Grand Jury," the statement said.

The grand jury indictment charged Syed with three counts of first degree murder and four counts of tampering with evidence for the killings of the immigrants of Pakistani and Afghan descent.

Thomas Clark, an attorney for Syed, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Police have said Syed is the primary suspect in a fourth murder, that of grocery store and café owner Mohammad Ahmadi, 62, in 2021.

District Attorney Raul Torrez's office said it was working with police to investigate Syed's possible involvement with Ahmadi's homicide.

National Muslim advocacy groups have alleged the murders may have been driven by inter-Muslim sectarian hate.

Three of the victims are from the minority Shia branch of Islam while Syed is from the Sunni majority group.

However, people who knew both the victims and Syed alleged the killings were primarily connected to personal feuds or revenge.

Federal prosecutors have allegedly linked Syed's 21-year-old son to the 5 August murder of Hussain.

(Reuters)