National Guard shooting suspect worked with CIA in Afghanistan before coming to US

The Afghan man accused of shooting two members of the U.S. military in downtown Washington, D.C., once worked with the CIA in Afghanistan, officials said.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal traveled thousands of miles from the west coast to launch an “ambush-style” attack on two members of the National Guard in West Virginia on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.

The gunman shot Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, at point-blank range just blocks from the White House, and both were in critical condition at the hospital, authorities said.

Mr. Lakanwal came to the United States in 2021 under a program that offers special immigration protection to Afghans following the American withdrawal from Afghanistan.

A former military commander who served with him told the BBC’s Afghan Service that he helped protect US forces at Kabul airport as thousands of people scrambled to flee Afghanistan before the Taliban came to power.

The father of five was assigned to Unit 03 of the Kandahar Strike Force nine years ago.

His unit was known locally as the Scorpion Force and initially operated under the CIA, but later operated on behalf of the Afghan intelligence agency known as the National Security Directorate.

The former commander told the BBC that Lakanwal was a GPS tracking expert and described him as a “sporty and cheerful character”.

His entire unit moved from Kandahar to Kabul five days before the Taliban entered the capital. They continued to guard the airport for another six days before being airlifted to the United States.

At a news conference on Thursday, FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed Mr. Lakanwal’s connection to U.S. forces, saying the suspect “was involved with partner forces in Afghanistan” before moving to the United States.

Following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, the Biden administration — with bipartisan support — created a program called Operation Allied Welcome that allowed nearly 77,000 Afghans to enter the U.S. under special immigration protections.

The program remained in effect for about a year after the United States withdrew.

Mr Lakanwal, 29, was among those who entered the US through this program and was paroled to the US on humanitarian grounds in 2021 CBS, the BBC’s US news partner reported.

This mechanism was the main mechanism used by the Biden administration to bring Afghans to the United States.

Mr. Lakanwal later applied for asylum in 2024. His application was accepted after Trump came to power earlier this year, CBS reported.

However, a Homeland Security official told CBS that the green card request, which is linked to asylum, is pending.

“The Biden Administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 because of his previous work with the U.S. Government, including the CIA, as a member of a joint force in Kandahar, which ended shortly after the chaotic evacuation,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in a statement to CBS. he said.

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said the shooting of National Guard members was “targeted,” noting that Mr. Lakanwal drove across the country from Bellingham in Washington state to carry out the attack.

Following the shooting, other National Guardsmen at the scene shot Mr. Lakanwal and detained him.

If convicted of three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed and one count of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, he faces more than a decade behind bars.

He remains hospitalized while being treated for his injuries.

Following the shooting, which Donald Trump called an “act of terrorism,” the president said he would take steps to remove any foreigner “from any country that doesn’t belong here.”

On Wednesday, the United States suspended all immigration requests from Afghans.

Trump said, “The United States must now re-examine every alien entering our country from Afghanistan under the Biden administration.”

On Thursday, Joseph Edlow, chief of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said the president had directed him to conduct “a full-scale, rigorous re-examination of every Green Card for every alien from every country involved.”

In addition to reviewing immigration efforts, Trump said he would send 500 more National Guard members to patrol the streets of Washington.

More than 2,000 troops have already been guarding the nation’s capital since August, when the president began sending troops into cities to fight what he called “out-of-control” crime.

National Guard troops are a reserve force that can be activated to serve as a military unit, but have limited authority because they cannot enforce the law or make arrests.

BBC Afghan Service’s Hafizullah Maroof and Sayed Abdullah Nizami contributed to this report