An Afghan man accused of shooting two U.S. troops 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 carry out an “ambush-style” attack on two members of the West Virginia National Guard on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.
He shot Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolf, 24, at close range just blocks from the White House, and both remain hospitalized in critical condition, officials said.
Mr. Lakanwal came to the United States in 2021 under a program that offered special immigration protections to Afghans after the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.
He helped guard US troops at Kabul airport as thousands tried to flee Afghanistan before the Taliban took over, a former military commander who served with him told the BBC.
The father of five had been recruited into Unit 03 of the Kandahar Strike Force nine years earlier.
His unit was known locally as the Scorpio Force, operating initially under the direction of the CIA and later as part of the Afghan intelligence agency known as the National Directorate of Security.
Mr Lakanwal was an expert in GPS trackers, a former commander told the BBC, calling him a “sporty and fun-loving character”.
His entire unit was transferred from Kandahar to Kabul five days before the Taliban entered the capital. They continued to guard the airport for another six days before they too were airlifted to the United States.
At a news conference on Thursday, FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed Mr. Lakanwala's connection to U.S. forces, saying the suspect “had relationships in Afghanistan with partner forces” before moving to the United States.
ReutersFollowing the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021, the Biden administration, with bipartisan support, created a program called Operation Allies Welcome, which allowed about 77,000 Afghans to enter the U.S. under special immigration protections.
The program operated for about a year after the US withdrawal. As the Taliban regained control of the country, there were fears of retaliation against those who cooperated with the United States.
Lakanwal, 29, was among those who entered the US under the program and was paroled to the US on humanitarian grounds back in 2021, according to BBC partner CBS News.
This mechanism was the main one the Biden administration used to transfer Afghans to the United States.
Lakanwal later applied for asylum in 2024. His application was granted earlier this year after Trump took office, CBS reported.
However, his request for an asylum-related green card is pending, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told the same network.
“The Biden administration justified the alleged shooter's delivery to the United States in September 2021 by his previous work with the US government, including the CIA, as a member of partner forces in Kandahar, which ended shortly after the chaotic evacuation,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in a statement to CBS.
The shooting of the National Guard members was “targeted,” said D.C. District Attorney Jeanine Pirro, noting that Mr. Lacanwal drove his car across the country from Bellingham, Washington, to carry out the attack.
After the shooting, other National Guard members at the scene shot Lakanwala and detained him.
He faces more than a decade in prison if convicted of three counts of assault with intent to kill with a weapon and one count of possession of a firearm during a violent crime.
He remains in hospital while he is treated for his injuries.
After the shooting, which Trump called an “act of terrorism,” the president said he would take steps to expel any foreigner “from any country that is not of this country.”
On Wednesday, the US suspended all immigration requests from Afghans.
Trump said the US “must now retest every foreigner who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden.”
On Thursday, Joseph Edlow, head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said the president had directed him to conduct a “full and thorough re-examination of every green card for every alien from every country of concern.”
In addition to addressing immigration efforts, Trump said he would send 500 more National Guard members to patrol the streets of Washington.
More than 2,000 troops have been guarding the nation's capital since August, when the president began sending troops into cities to combat what he called “out of control” crime.
National Guard troops are reservist forces that can be deployed as military troops but have limited powers because they cannot enforce the law or make arrests.
Additional reporting by Hafizullah Maruf and Syed Abdullah Nizami
