Washington DC Shooting Highlights Afghanistan’s Role in Global Extremism; Afghan Immigrant Suspect in Custody

Washington, D.C. – On 26 November 2025, two United States National Guard soldiers were critically wounded in a targeted daytime shooting near the White House in Washington, D.C.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Laknawal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who immigrated to the US during the 2021 Afghan evacuation.

Details of the Attack and Victims

The attack occurred around 2:15 p.m., two blocks from the White House complex, prompting a temporary security lockdown. Both soldiers, a male and a female, on high-visibility patrol, were rushed to local trauma centres and remain in critical condition. The suspect also sustained injuries during the encounter, though it remains unclear whether they were self-inflicted or the result of return fire.

The DHS confirmed that Laknawal hails from the Lakan area of Khost province, Afghanistan, historically linked to the Haqqani network and a forward base for Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Federal authorities are investigating potential ties to extremist networks and assessing whether the incident constitutes an act of international terrorism.

President Donald Trump, speaking from Florida, condemned the attack as “an act of evil, an act of hatred, and an act of terror,” emphasizing that the suspect entered the US in 2021 without comprehensive vetting. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth responded by deploying 500 additional National Guard troops to secure the nation’s capital.

In an unprecedented step late Wednesday night, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency declared a total and immediate stop to any immigration processing of all immigration applications concerning Afghan nationals, pending a security and vetting protocol assessment.

The FBI is leading the investigation, with a focus on potential foreign militant influences. Civil rights organizations have urged restraint and caution until official findings are released.

Immigration Status of Suspect and CIA Links

The immigration history of Lakanwal has instantly become a political hotspot:

• Entry: He was brought into the US in 2021 as part of Operation Allies Welcome, the program created during the Biden administration to resettle thousands of Afghans who had helped the US forces and feared being hunted by the Taliban after the withdrawal. The program enabled approximately 90,000 Afghans to apply for Special Immigration Visas and gave them immigration processing and resettlement assistance.
• Asylum Status and Claimed Overstay: According to an official of the Trump administration, Lakanwal had applied to obtain asylum in December 2024 and was granted one on April 23 this year, three months after President Donald Trump assumed office. But according to sources in The Post, Lakanwal had exceeded his visa and was illegally residing in the country when he allegedly attacked the Guardsmen.
• Prior Affiliation: Lara Logan, an Investigative Journalist, shared an identity card showing Lakanwal’s previous working relationship with US government agencies, which include the CIA and US Special Forces in Kandahar.

• Afghan Intelligence Connections: The reported service of Lakanwal occurred in a wider framework of extensive US participation in the Afghanistan security. Between 2004 and 2010, Amrullah Saleh led the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) that organized intelligence against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda with the help of the CIA. In addition, the CIA allegedly accompanied Afghan paramilitary groups, internally referred to as the Mohawks, and formed such groups as Unit 01 and 02, which were financed, trained, and accompanied on night raids.

Pak–Afghan affairs expert Salman Javed, referencing the CIA–NDS collaboration detailed in Steve Coll’s Directorate S, told HTN that the shooting “emerges from the exact grey zone Coll warned about — the unaccounted overlap of CIA-backed Afghan units, NDS networks, and Northern Alliance intelligence cells that operated from 2001 to 2016.”

He explained that Directorate S documents how the CIA worked closely with figures like Amrullah Saleh, arming paramilitary teams for night raids, intelligence collection, and counter-Taliban operations using specialised equipment such as night-vision systems.

“When these CIA–NDS pipelines collapsed in 2021 without structured demobilisation or follow-up vetting,” he said, “thousands of fixers, militias, interpreters, and ex-operatives were left floating in a security vacuum.”

“Lakanwal belongs exactly to that generation of field-level actors,”

he added.

“The US evacuation never accounted for who came through the intelligence chain and who came through the civilian chain, a structural failure that Directorate S traces back to fragmented US command, disjointed CIA–DoD planning, and the slow evolution of unified oversight pre-2010. What we’re seeing now is the long tail of those unresolved contradictions.”

Geopolitical and Security Context

The incident has reignited concerns about Afghanistan as a hub for global terrorism.  Peshawar-based Journalist Arshad Mehmood, while talking to HTN, noted that following the 2021 fall of Kabul, large numbers of Afghans, including youth born during years of conflict, migrated to the US and Europe. Many left hastily, without full vetting, potentially including individuals influenced by extremist ideologies.

Mehmood highlighted the ongoing presence of al-Qaeda, ISIS, and the Haqqani network in Afghanistan, warning that these groups continue to operate and influence youth both inside and outside Afghanistan. The release of prisoners from ISIS, al-Qaeda, and TTP following the collapse of Afghan security institutions has further expanded the pool of individuals susceptible to radicalization.

UN assessments in 2025 indicate that Afghanistan has become the world’s most active sanctuary for militants, serving as a launchpad for extremist operations globally, from South Asia to Europe and now the United States. Analysts note that India’s extensive financial and political support for the Taliban has indirectly reinforced the environment, allowing such attackers to emerge.

Pro-Taliban propaganda networks, amplified via India-linked digital ecosystems, quickly launched coordinated disinformation campaigns following the Washington attack, celebrating violence and spreading polarizing narratives.

Regional and Global Implications

The attack underscores the urgent need for reassessment of Afghan immigration policies in the US and Europe and reinforces Pakistan’s repatriation measures for illegal Afghan nationals, aimed at protecting domestic and international security. It also highlights the persistent challenge posed by Afghanistan-based militant groups exporting extremism worldwide, requiring coordinated international counterterrorism efforts.

Pakistan expressed its deep sympathy to the United States over the 26 November attack and reiterated its support for American security and cooperation in combating global terrorism.