Suspect in National Guard Shooting Was Part of CIA-Backed Unit That Hunted Down Taliban Commanders

More information is being uncovered about Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the 29-year-old Afghan who allegedly shot two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

Lakanwal was a member of a secret military operation backed by the CIA to hunt down Taliban commanders, according to multiple reports. The members of the “Zero Units” were highly vetted and praised by those who knew about them.

One of the guardsmen has since died, and the other is in critical condition. Both are members of the West Virginia National Guard.

Refugee advocates say that many Zero Units members have fallen into despair over their inability to gain work permits in the U.S. after fleeing from Afghanistan when it was retaken by the Taliban. Former intelligence and military officials say Lakanwal would have undergone significant vetting to be accepted into a Zero Unit operation.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed Lakanwal’s CIA connection. “In the wake of the disastrous Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the U.S. government, including CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation,” he said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

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