Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the 29-year-old Afghan national suspected of shooting two National Guardsmen in Washington, DC, worked with the CIA as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, Afghanistan, the agency’s director John Ratcliffe revealed Wednesday night.
Ratcliffe told Fox News Digital of the link, saying the suspect was a “member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation.”
Kandahar in southern Afghanistan is in the Taliban heartland of the country. It saw fierce fighting between the Taliban and NATO forces after U.S.-led forces arrived in 2001 following the al-Qaida terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.
“The Biden administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the U.S. government, including CIA,” Ratcliffe outlined.
He lamented Lakanwal “and so many others—should have never been allowed to come here,” as he added: “God bless our brave troops.”
A close relative said Lakanwal served in the Afghan Army for 10 years alongside U.S. Special Forces, NBC News reported.
Authorities say the suspect has been living in Washington state, more than 2,600 miles from D.C. and its environs.
Many details about the suspect are still unknown as he’s still in the hospital receiving treatment, Jeffery Carroll, executive assistant chief at the Metropolitan Police Department, told reporters. His injuries are believed to be non-life-threatening.
President Donald Trump affirmed Wednesday night the Homeland Security Department is “confident” the suspect was from Afghanistan, which the president described as “a hellhole on Earth.”
“He was flown in by the Biden administration in September 2021 for those infamous flights that everybody was talking about. Nobody knew who was coming in,” Trump said.
Following the shooting, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency announced an immediate and indefinite halt to the “processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals” pending a review of security and vetting protocols.
