Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the Afghan man accused of shooting two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., previously served in one of Afghanistan’s elite counterterrorism units, AfghanEvac — a nonprofit run by U.S. veterans and others who served in Afghanistan — says.
AfghanEvac says the unit, NDS-03, operated at the direction of the CIA with direct U.S. intelligence and military support and fought the Taliban on behalf of the U.S. government. CIA Director John Ratcliffe said the shooter, who came to the U.S. from Afghanistan in 2021, was admitted into the United States “due to his prior work with the U.S. Government, including CIA.”
The group said Lakanwal was likely vetted multiple times during his journey to the United States. He was evacuated by the U.S. military in August 2021 after the fall of Kabul and arrived under humanitarian parole, the temporary authority used to evacuate tens of thousands of Afghans on special immigrant visas and others who worked with the U.S. and faced risk from the Taliban. He applied for asylum during the Biden administration and was, the article states, granted asylum in April 2025.
FBI Director Kash Patel said Lakanwal’s ties to U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan will be a central focus of the investigation. “This subject had a relationship in Afghanistan with partner forces,” Patel said, adding investigators are examining that aspect of his background and any known associates overseas or in the United States. Patel also alleged, without providing evidence, that Lakanwal was allowed into the U.S. by the Biden administration without proper vetting, accusing officials of failing to vet “this individual and countless others.”
Lakanwal had an active special immigrant visa (SIV) application — the program for those who worked with the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan. He had received chief of mission approval, a required SIV step, but had not yet been granted lawful permanent residence (a green card). AfghanEvac noted that chief of mission approval and asylum applications would have required review and vetting by U.S. government agencies, including the CIA.
In an interview with NPR, AfghanEvac founder and Navy veteran Shawn VanDiver said it is premature to conclude whether more scrutiny was warranted. “We don’t know yet. If there was a vetting failure, we’ve got to fix it, but we can’t paint with a broad brush this entire community, right? The vast majority of Afghans who have come here and are just good upstanding citizens,” he said.
AfghanEvac described the vetting process for asylum as including identity and background checks, biometric vetting, in-person interviews and an individualized assessment of risk and eligibility under U.S. law. Those granted asylum can apply for a green card after one year. The group added that this violent act does not reflect the Afghan community, which “continues to contribute across the United States and undergoes some of the most extensive vetting of any immigrant population.”