Suspect in Washington DC national guard shooting had ties to CIA, agency confirms

The suspected shooter of two national guard members in Washington DC on Wednesday worked with CIA-backed military units during the US war in Afghanistan, the agency has confirmed.

The alleged gunman, identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, came to the US in September 2021 under an Operation Allies Welcome program that gave some Afghans who had worked for the US government entry visas to the US.

Lakanwal’s ties to the Central Intelligence Agency, which worked alongside US special forces in Afghanistan, were confirmed by the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, to media outlets on Wednesday evening.

The New York Times reported that the shooting suspect had worked for several US government agencies in Afghanistan, including a CIA-backed unit in the southern province of Kandahar, a stronghold of the Taliban.

“The Biden administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the US government, including CIA,” Ratcliffe told Fox News digital, adding that Lakanwal’s involvement with the agency was “as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation”.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services said after the shooting that it has stopped processing residency applications from Afghan nationals.

“Effective immediately, processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols,” the agency said on social media.

Following the shooting, Donald Trump ordered 500 additional national guard troops to Washington. The president described the shooting as an “act of terror” and called immigration “the single greatest national security threat facing our nation”.