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

The Afghan man accused of shooting two members of the US military in downtown Washington DC previously worked alongside 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 West Virginia National Guard Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.

He shot Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, at point-blank range just blocks from the White House, officials said, and they both remain in critical condition in a hospital.

Mr. Lakanwal arrived in the United States in 2021 under a program providing special immigration protections to Afghans following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

He helped keep US forces at Kabul airport as thousands rushed to flee Afghanistan before the Taliban took power, a former military commander who served alongside him told the BBC Afghanistan Service.

This father of five children had been recruited into Unit 03 of the Kandahar Strike Force nine years earlier.

His unit was known locally as the Scorpion Forces, initially operating under the CIA, but ultimately for the Afghan intelligence service known as the National Directorate of Security.

Mr Lakanwal was a specialist in GPS trackers, the former commander told the BBC, describing him as a “sporty and cheerful character”.

His entire unit was moved from Kandahar to Kabul five days before the Taliban entered the capital. They continued to protect the airport for another six days, before they too were flown to the United States.

At a press conference on Thursday, FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed Lakanwal’s ties to US forces, saying the suspect “had relationships in Afghanistan with partner forces” before moving to the US.

Following the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, the Biden administration — with bipartisan support — created a program called Operation Allies Welcome that allowed approximately 77,000 Afghans to enter the United States under special immigration protections.

The program was in place for about a year after the US withdrawal.

Mr. Lakanwal, 29, was among those who entered the United States under the program and was granted parole in the United States on humanitarian grounds in 2021. CBS, the BBC’s American news partner reported.

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

Mr. Lakanwal then applied for asylum in 2024. His request was granted earlier this year, CBS reported, after Trump took office.

However, his green card application, linked to the granting of asylum, is pending, a Homeland Security official told CBS.

“The Biden administration justified the suspected shooter’s transfer to the United States in September 2021 because of his prior work with the U.S. government, including the CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly after the chaotic evacuation,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in a statement to CBS.

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

After the shooting, other National Guard members at the scene shot and arrested Mr. Lakanwal.

He faces more than a decade behind bars 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 remains in hospital while he is treated for his injuries.

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

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

Trump said the United States “must now reexamine every foreigner who entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden.”

On Thursday, Joseph Edlow, head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said the president had asked him to conduct “a rigorous, full-scale review of every green card for every alien from every country of concern.”

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

Already more than 2,000 troops have been guarding the nation’s capital since August, when the president began deploying troops to cities to combat what he called “out of control” crime.

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

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