Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the Afghan man accused of shooting two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., earlier this week, previously served in an elite Afghan counterterrorism unit that worked at the direction of U.S. agencies, the nonprofit AfghanEvac says.
AfghanEvac, a group run by U.S. veterans and others who served in Afghanistan, identified the unit as NDS-03 and said it operated with direct U.S. intelligence and military support to fight the Taliban on behalf of the U.S. government. The organization said Lakanwal likely underwent multiple layers of vetting during his evacuation and resettlement.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said the shooter came to the United States from Afghanistan in 2021 and was admitted “due to his prior work with the U.S. Government, including CIA.” Lakanwal was among Afghans evacuated by the U.S. military after Kabul fell in August 2021 and entered the country under humanitarian parole, the temporary authority used to bring tens of thousands of Afghans, including special immigrant visa holders and others who had worked with the U.S., to safety.
AfghanEvac noted that Lakanwal applied for asylum and, the group said, was granted asylum in April 2025. He also had an active special immigrant visa (SIV) application pending and had received chief of mission approval, a required step in the SIV process, though he had not yet been granted lawful permanent residence. AfghanEvac emphasized that chief of mission approval and asylum processing involve review and vetting by U.S. agencies, including intelligence services.
FBI Director Kash Patel said investigators will focus on Lakanwal’s ties to U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan as they probe the shooting. Patel also criticized the vetting that brought Lakanwal to the United States, saying the individual and others were admitted without adequate screening. His comments attributed blame to the Biden administration, though he did not present evidence in the remarks released by officials.
Shawn VanDiver, a Navy veteran and founder of AfghanEvac, told NPR it is too early to know whether any vetting failure occurred. “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,” he said, noting that most Afghan arrivals have become productive, law-abiding members of U.S. communities.
Vetting for asylum cases typically includes identity checks, biometric screening, in-person interviews, and individualized assessments under U.S. law. AfghanEvac said the shooting “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.” Authorities continue to investigate Lakanwal’s background and any possible associates in the U.S. or abroad.