In a chilling incident just before Thanksgiving, an Afghan national named Rahmanullah Lakanwal has been accused of shooting two National Guardsmen near the White House. New revelations about Lakanwal’s past have brought his high-stakes background into the spotlight, revealing his former role in an elite counterterrorism unit associated with the CIA in Afghanistan.
At 29 years old, Lakanwal was a member of NDS-03, a distinguished unit within Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security. This group operated under the auspices of the CIA, receiving direct support from both U.S. intelligence and military forces. The unit’s operations were primarily concentrated in Afghanistan’s volatile southern provinces, including Kandahar, Helmand, and Uruzgan. Notably, they were based out of a compound once used by the infamous Taliban leader Mullah Omar, known to U.S. forces as “Camp Gecko.”
Commonly referred to as “Zero Units,” NDS-03 was one of several paramilitary groups collaborating closely with the CIA. These units were renowned for their rigorous selection and training processes, which were meticulously overseen by the CIA. They were tasked with executing some of the most challenging counterterrorism operations, targeting threats such as the Taliban and Al Qaeda, earning a reputation for courage and reliability among their U.S. counterparts.
The recent accusations against Lakanwal have cast a shadow over his service history, a stark contrast to the respect and trust he once commanded. As the investigation unfolds, the implications of his alleged actions continue to reverberate through both U.S. and Afghan communities.
Undated file photo of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (Provided by Department of Justice)
The Afghan members of the units were highly vetted and trained by the CIA and carried out some of the toughest counterterrorism missions against the Taliban, Al Qaeda and others. They were very trusted and brave, according to those who worked with them.
Lakanwal entered the U.S. legally in 2021 under humanitarian parole as part of the Biden administration’s Operation Allies Welcome that followed the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover of the country. The operation aimed to support and resettle vulnerable Afghans, including those that had helped U.S. troops in the past.
National Guard members stand together behind yellow tape, after two National Guard members were shot near the White House in Washington, D.C., Nov. 26, 2025. (Reuters/Nathan Howard)
He had his asylum application approved in April 2025 under the Trump administration, the non-profit group said.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro and FBI Director Kash Patel criticized the vetting process during a press conference on Thursday.
U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro speaks during a press conference with FBI Director Kash Patel and other authorities about the shooting of two National Guard members on November 26, in Washington, D.C., Nov. 27, 2025. (Reuters/Nathan Howard)
Pirro said the shooting is an example of what happens “in this country when people are allowed in who are not properly vetted.” Patel said the Biden administration allowed “thousands of people into this country without doing a single piece of background checking or vetting.”
A senior U.S. official told Fox News that the CIA would have done its own vetting of him through a variety of databases, including the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) database, to see if he had any known ties to terrorist groups before working with him.
Lakanwal began working with the CIA around 2011, when he was likely 15 years old, according to the official, who added that the CIA would have kept the identities of those they worked with secret.
The official noted it was common at the time for Afghans to forge their birth certificates to appear 18 or older before applying to work with the U.S. government. Few official records of birth are kept in Afghanistan, and it was often difficult to know anyone’s exact age, the official added.
NCTC would have vetted him during Operation Allies Welcome in 2021 for any ties to terrorism before he was allowed into the U.S., the senior official said.
“In terms of vetting, nothing came up,” the senior U.S. official told Fox News. “He was clean on all checks.”
The senior official added that the U.S. government had been doing continuous, annual vetting since the Afghans’ arrival in the U.S., especially in the wake of the foiled terror plot in Oklahoma before last year’s election, which involved an Afghan evacuee.
Lakanwal is accused of shooting National Guardsmen Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, near the Farragut West Metro station around 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday.
Pirro said the suspect “ambushed” the pair in a “targeted” attack. The suspect was then shot by a responding Guardsman and subdued. He was hospitalized and placed under “heavy guard,” she said.
Beckstrom and Wolfe remained in critical condition after undergoing surgery, Pirro said.
