The man suspected of shooting two National Guard soldiers near the White House on Wednesday was an Afghan national who worked alongside US forces in Afghanistan, US officials say.
Washington has labeled the violence an “act of terror” and announced increased oversight of foreigners who entered the United States from Afghanistan in recent years.
Here’s what we know about the suspected shooter:
– Afghan national –
US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jean Pirro identified the shooter as 29-year old Rahmanullah Lakanwal and said he arrived in America in 2021 after the Taliban took power again as US forces withdrew after a 20 year presence.
Lakanwal came to America under a program to resettle some Afghans, including those who had worked with US forces as interpreters and in other roles during the war, she said.
Lakanwal had been living in Bellingham in the state of Washington on the west coast with his wife and five children and drove across the country to come to the US capital, Pirro said.
He shot the Guard members with a .357 Smith and Wesson revolver, she added.
He will be charged with assault with intent to kill, and with first-degree murder if the two National Guard soldiers — now in critical condition after undergoing surgery — die.
He served in NDS-03, one of Afghanistan’s elite counterterrorism units operated by the CIA with direct US intelligence and military support, said AfghanEvac, an NGO that helped resettle Afghans in the US after the military withdrawal.
Lakanwal applied for asylum during the Biden administration and received it under Trump in April of this year, the NGO added. He did not have lawful permanent residence, the so-called green card.
A relative of Lakanwal told NBC that he arrived after serving in the Afghan army for 10 years in support of US Special Forces.
The relative told NBC that Lakanwal originally came from Afghanistan’s southeastern Khost province and had spent some of his military service at a base in the southern province of Kandahar.
Kandahar is the birthplace of the Taliban and was the center of heavy fighting during the 20-year war between the then-insurgents and foreign-backed forces.
– 2021 arrival –
US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said Lakanwal “was one of the many unvetted, mass paroled into the United States under Operation Allies Welcome.”
She said Lakanwal entered the United States on September 8, 2021, less than a month after Afghanistan fell to the Taliban.
US President Donald Trump signed an agreement with the Taliban in February 2020 to pave the way for the significant drawdown of US troops in Afghanistan by the end of that year — though the timeline was pushed back and conducted under the subsequent administration of Joe Biden.
– ‘Operation Allies Welcome’ –
Shortly after the Taliban took over Kabul on August 15, 2021, and as US forces withdrew, Biden introduced “Operation Allies Welcome” to coordinate efforts across the multiple government agencies resettling Afghans, including those who worked with US forces.
At the time, more than 40 percent of Afghans included in the program were eligible for “Special Immigrant Visa” (SIVs) for those who took “significant risks to support our military and civilian personnel in Afghanistan” on behalf of the US government in Afghanistan, as well as their family members.
Other vulnerable groups, such as advocates and journalists, also entered the US under the program. Authorities have not confirmed whether Lakanwal received an SIV.
Those who entered the United States under Operation Allies Welcome received security vetting from several government agencies, including the FBI and the National Counterterrorism Center.
The Biden administration renamed the efforts in September 2022 “Enduring Welcome” (EW) to signify a pivot to a long-term strategy that would focus on helping Afghans obtain more durable, long-term legal status, primarily through the SIV program or the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP).
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