Afghan accused of shooting 2 National Guard members was part of CIA-backed unit

Defence affairs - Dan De Luce and Rich Schapiro

Rahmanullah Lakanwal was a member of a “Zero Unit,” an elite squad of Afghans who have faced hardships in the U.S. due to visa and employment issues, experts say.

Before Rahmanullah Lakanwal settled in a quiet part of Washington state, he was part of a secret unit of Afghans who operated under CIA direction and hunted down Taliban commanders in highly dangerous missions.

They “took malignant actors off the battlefield and saved American lives, period,” said Andrew Sullivan, who served as an officer with the Army’s 1st Division in Afghanistan and is now executive director of No One Left Behind, a nonprofit that helps resettle Afghans who worked for the U.S. military during the war.

These members of “Zero Units,” also known as National Strike Units, were among the most extensively vetted of any Afghans who worked with American forces. CIA officers hailed their bravery, skill and loyalty, and the agency prioritized their evacuation from Afghanistan following the fall of Kabul in 2021 because they were prime targets for the Taliban.

But since arriving in the United States, thousands of these Afghan veterans have lived in a legal limbo without work permits, struggling to feed their families, according to refugee advocates. Their former CIA and military colleagues appealed to both the Biden and Trump administrations and to Congress to take action to resolve their legal status, warning that the lack of progress was driving some veterans into despair, the advocates said.

Lakanwal, 29, is accused of driving across the country and shooting two National Guard members near the White House last week, killing Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and critically wounding Andrew Wolfe, 24. The suspect, who was shot and wounded during the attack, will face charges of first-degree murder and other offenses, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro has said.

Authorities have not provided a motive for the shooting, and a relative of Lakanwal’s has said the family cannot fathom why a man who fought alongside Americans in Afghanistan may have carried out such an attack.

“I need your help to know why this happened,” the relative told NBC News last week, his voice cracking with emotion.

In the wake of the shooting, President Donald Trump has called for a full review of all Afghans admitted to the country and a halt to processing any immigration requests from Afghans seeking to resettle in the United States. Some administration officials have claimed without evidence that the Biden administration failed to vet Lakanwal.

But Lakanwal, as a member of the CIA-trained strike force, would have undergone extensive vetting before he joined the Zero Unit and also regular security checks during his tenure, former intelligence and military officials said.

The CIA oversaw the evacuation of Lakanwal and nearly 10,000 members of the force when the U.S. military withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021. Like other refugees, Lakanwal would have been vetted again, multiple officials said, when he applied for asylum, which was granted in April — during the Trump administration.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson on Saturday blamed Trump’s predecessor.

“This animal would’ve never been here if not for Joe Biden’s dangerous policies which allowed countless unvetted criminals to invade our country and harm the American people,” Jackson said in an emailed response to a request for comment.

Former intelligence officers and military veterans who work with refugees say even the most extensive vetting cannot guarantee that a person will never resort to violence.

“Vetting can help mitigate threats, but it doesn’t eliminate threats,” said Geeta Bakshi, a former CIA officer who worked in Afghanistan and now runs FAMIL, a nonprofit that assists members of the Zero Units. “It’s hard to say what motivated this individual to act in such a violent and horrific way. You never know what’s going on in someone’s head, or why their mindset shifts.”

She added: “I understand the FBI is leading a very thorough investigation to get to these answers — we look forward to supporting them in their efforts.”