Nationwide Guard capturing suspect was in CIA counterterrorism unit : NPR

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the Afghan man who allegedly shot two Nationwide Guard members in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, beforehand served in one in all Afghanistan’s elite counterterrorism models, based on AfghanEvac, a nonprofit run by U.S. veterans and others who served in Afghanistan.

The unit was operated by the CIA with direct U.S. intelligence and navy help, based on AfghanEvac.

Lakanwal’s unit, NDS-03, operated on the route of the CIA and fought the Taliban on behalf of the U.S. authorities, the group stated.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe stated in an announcement earlier Thursday that the shooter concerned within the assault, who got here to the U.S. from Afghanistan in 2021, was admitted into the U.S. “attributable to his prior work with the U.S. Authorities, together with CIA.”

He’s more likely to have been vetted a number of occasions throughout his journey to the USA, based on the group, which works with Afghans who helped the U.S.

Lakanwal was evacuated by the U.S. navy in August 2021, following the autumn of Kabul within the first 12 months of the Biden administration.

He arrived within the U.S. underneath humanitarian parole, the momentary authority used to evacuate tens of 1000’s of Afghans on particular immigrant visas and people Afghans who labored with the U.S. and have been in danger from the Taliban. He utilized for asylum within the Biden years and was granted asylum in April 2025, underneath the Trump administration.

Throughout a press convention on Thursday, FBI Director Kash Patel stated Lakanwal’s involvement with U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan can be a central focus of the investigation.

“This topic had a relationship in Afghanistan with accomplice forces,” Patel stated. “We’re totally investigating that facet of his background as nicely, to incorporate any recognized associates which might be both abroad or who’re right here in the USA of America.”

Patel additionally stated, with out offering proof, that Lakanwal was allowed into the U.S. by the Biden administration with out correct vetting. Patel blamed “the failure to vet any manner, in any manner, form or type, this particular person and numerous others.”

Lakanwal had an lively particular immigrant visa (SIV) utility underway, given to those that labored with the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan. Although he had obtained chief of mission approval, a compulsory step required for the SIV, he hadn’t but been granted lawful everlasting residence — or a inexperienced card.

AfghanEvac famous that each the purposes for chief of mission approval in addition to asylum would have required evaluation and vetting by the U.S. authorities, together with the CIA.

In an interview with NPR, the founding father of AfghanEvac, Navy veteran Shawn VanDiver, stated it is untimely to say whether or not Lakanwal warranted extra scrutiny.

“We do not know but. If there was a vetting failure, we have got to repair it, however we won’t paint with a broad brush this whole neighborhood, proper? The overwhelming majority of Afghans who’ve come right here and are simply good upstanding residents,” VanDiver stated.

Vetting for asylum consists of identification and background checks, biometric vetting, in-person interviews, and an evaluation of individualized danger and eligibility underneath U.S. legislation. These granted asylum can apply for a inexperienced card after one 12 months.

“This violent act doesn’t replicate the Afghan neighborhood, which continues to contribute throughout the USA and undergoes a number of the most intensive vetting of any immigrant inhabitants,” AfghanEvac stated in an announcement.