Afghan National Charged With Explosives Possession

 A Fairfax County man has been charged with possessing a crude homemade bomb constructed out of fireworks.

Thirty-eight year-old Atal Bashar of Burke is a native of Afghanistan and a naturalized U.S. citizen. He made an initial appearance Monday in federal court in Alexandria.

According to an FBI affidavit, a cleaning service hired by a real estate agent found what appeared to be a bomb while cleaning Bashar's father's home in the Alexandria section of the county in March 2012.

According to the affidavit, Bashar admitted to investigators last week that he built the device for self-defense by placing fireworks in the duffel bag and surrounding it with shrapnel like nails and screws.

Bashar is being held pending a detention hearing scheduled for Wednesday.