Afghan suspect in DC shooting had worked with CIA

Rahmanullah Lakanwal reportedly helped guard US troops at Kabul airport after the Taliban takeover

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the suspect in the fatal shooting of National Guard troops in Washington, DC, had worked with the CIA during the US occupation of Afghanistan.

On Wednesday, the Afghan national allegedly fired at close range on two West Virginia National Guard members while they were patrolling the street. US Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom died from her injuries the next day, while US Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe remains in critical condition.

Officials said Lakanwal entered the US under a special program set up to evacuate vulnerable Afghans – including those who had worked with Western troops – after the Taliban recaptured the country in 2021.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe announced on Thursday that the suspect was admitted into the US in September 2021 “due to his prior work with the US Government, including the CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation.”

“This individual – and so many others – should never have been allowed to come here,” Ratcliffe said, echoing comments made by President Donald Trump, who heavily criticized his predecessor, Joe Biden, for the “disastrous” withdrawal of US forces.

FBI Director Kash Patel also confirmed that Lakanwal “had a relationship in Afghanistan with partner forces,” adding that his prior connections are under investigation.

The BBC’s Afghan Service cited a former military commander who served alongside Lakanwal, saying he worked as a GPS tracker specialist in a unit known as Scorpion Forces, which operated under the CIA and later under Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security. Lakanwal also reportedly helped guard American troops at Kabul airport during the final weeks of the withdrawal.

The ex-commander told the BBC that Lakanwal moved from Kandahar to Kabul five days before the Taliban entered the capital in August 2021 and was airlifted to the US six days later.