On the morning of November 27, 2025, gunfire erupted just blocks from the White House, shattering the relative calm of downtown Washington, D.C. Two West Virginia National Guard members, deployed to the capital as part of a federal anti-crime initiative, were shot—one fatally, the other wounded—in a brazen daylight attack. The suspect: Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who once fought alongside U.S. forces as part of an elite CIA-trained strike unit in Afghanistan.
In the days that followed, U.S. officials scrambled to piece together how a former ally, welcomed to America under a program designed to protect those who aided the U.S. war effort, could become the alleged perpetrator of a deadly attack on American soil. The incident has reignited fierce debate over the vetting of Afghan evacuees and the challenges of detecting radicalization, especially among those with complex wartime backgrounds.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, speaking on Fox News just days after the shooting, was blunt in her assessment: "We know that this shooter who shot our National Guardsmen in D.C. the day before Thanksgiving, he was radicalized. You’re going to hear a lot more about that, and these people should not have been in our country." Bondi’s comments underscored a growing sense of alarm within the administration and among the public.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem echoed those concerns during an appearance on NBC’s "Meet the Press," confirming that the prevailing view among national security officials is that Lakanwal was radicalized after his arrival in the United States. "We believe he was radicalized since he’s been here in this country. We do believe it was through connections in his home community and state, and we’re going to continue to talk to those who interacted with him, who were his family members, who talk to them," Noem said.
Lakanwal’s journey to the U.S. began in the chaos of the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal. As the Taliban swept back into power, the Biden administration launched Operation Allies Welcome, a program intended to resettle Afghans who had supported American and allied efforts during the two-decade conflict. According to the Department of Homeland Security, nearly 200,000 Afghans were admitted under the program, with about 40 percent receiving Special Immigrant Visas. The program’s official literature described a "rigorous screening and vetting process" involving multiple agencies—including the CIA, the FBI, and the National Counterterrorism Center.
But in the wake of the D.C. shooting, that process has come under intense scrutiny. Secretary Noem criticized the Biden administration’s approach, arguing, "They brought them into our country and then said they would vet them afterwards. That’s the irresponsibility that has completely devastated our country." She added that conducting thorough background checks was complicated by the collapse of the Afghan government, which made it nearly impossible to verify records or obtain reliable information.
Despite these challenges, Lakanwal’s background would have been difficult to overlook. He was a member of the Kandahar Strike Force—known as the "03" unit—one of several elite "Zero Units" that operated under the umbrella of Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS), with training and support from the CIA. These units were considered among the most trusted Afghan forces by U.S. intelligence and military officials, often tasked with high-risk missions, including night raids and counterterrorism operations.
Yet, their reputation was not without controversy. Human Rights Watch accused the Zero Units of "extrajudicial killings, indiscriminate airstrikes, and multiple violations of international humanitarian law" during the 2010s, labeling them "death squads." Both the CIA and the U.S. government have rejected these allegations, but the shadow of wartime brutality lingers over the units and their members.
Lt. Gen. Sami Sadat, former commanding general of the Afghan National Special Operations Corps, told CBS News that Lakanwal served in the "03" unit for eight years. "He was known for being responsible and professional within his team and had strong anti-Taliban views," Sadat said. The general added that Lakanwal’s family had been threatened by the Taliban, prompting their relocation from Khost province to Kabul before ultimately fleeing to the United States. In America, Sadat noted, "Lakanwal was generally calm and maintained a clean record, though he suffered from PTSD."
Images circulating online after the shooting showed Lakanwal’s identification badge, emblazoned with "Kandahar Strike Force" and "Firebase Gecko"—the latter a former CIA and U.S. Special Forces base in southern Afghanistan, once used by Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar. The badge’s authenticity was confirmed by former Afghan military officials and U.S. investigators, further cementing Lakanwal’s ties to the elite, secretive world of Afghan paramilitary operations.
Despite his service, Lakanwal’s path in the U.S. was not without struggle. According to CBS News, a U.S. official briefed on the investigation said the suspect had been "disturbed by the casualties in this unit and, more recently, deeply troubled by the killing of his close friend overseas." Samantha Vinograd, a former Department of Homeland Security counterterrorism official, explained on CBS’s "Face the Nation" that, "This horrific tragedy could be the result of an individual that quickly mobilized to violence without any ties to foreign terrorism. And, as we have discussed in other cases, trying to find lone actors before they initiate an attack is harder than trying to find a needle in a haystack."
The shooting has also reignited partisan tensions over the handling of Afghan evacuees. Critics of the Biden administration, including Secretary Noem, have argued that the rush to evacuate vulnerable Afghans led to lapses in vetting. Noem asserted, "Vetting is happening when they come into the country, and that was completely abandoned under Joe Biden’s administration." However, defenders of the program point to the multilayered screening process and the unique dangers faced by former Zero Unit members, who were prime targets for Taliban retaliation and thus prioritized for evacuation.
As the investigation continues, officials have yet to establish any direct connections between Lakanwal and known terrorist organizations. Lt. Gen. Sadat told CBS News, "While we could not establish any connection between him and any terrorist organization, we also cannot completely rule it out. However, we can confirm that his background does not show any links to terrorists." Still, the fact that radicalization may have occurred after Lakanwal’s arrival in the U.S. has left many questioning how communities—and the government—can better detect and prevent such tragedies.
In response to the attack, the Trump administration announced an immediate pause on all asylum decisions and a suspension of visa issuance for Afghan nationals. This move, intended to allow a comprehensive review of vetting procedures, has drawn both support and criticism, reflecting the deep divisions over immigration, national security, and America’s obligations to its wartime allies.
For now, the shooting near the White House stands as a stark reminder of the enduring complexities of war, displacement, and the challenge of balancing national security with humanitarian responsibility. As more details emerge, the nation continues to grapple with the consequences of its longest war—and the lives forever altered by its end.
