In a startling development, it has been revealed that the Afghan national charged with the shooting of two National Guardsmen near the White House, just a day before Thanksgiving, previously served in a high-profile CIA counterterrorism unit in Afghanistan. This information, disclosed on Thursday, sheds light on the suspect’s complex background.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, aged 29, was a member of NDS-03, an elite unit in Afghanistan that operated with direct support from U.S. intelligence and military, as confirmed by Afghan Evac, a non-profit organization assisting Afghans with Special Immigrant Visas (SIV). This unit was part of a collaborative effort involving the CIA, highlighting Lakanwal’s deep connections to American military operations.

Lakanwal’s unit was active in the southern provinces of Afghanistan, including Kandahar, Helmand, and Uruzgan. They were based out of a location known as “Mullah Omar’s house,” a compound formerly owned by the late Taliban leader. This site, referred to by U.S. forces as “Camp Gecko,” played a pivotal role in their operations.

The NDS-03 was part of a network of approximately five paramilitary groups associated with the CIA, frequently dubbed “Zero Units” due to the numeric designation following their affiliation with the National Directorate of Security (NDS), Afghanistan’s intelligence agency.

An undated photograph of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the suspect in the Washington, D.C. shooting on November 26, 2025, has been provided by the Department of Justice, offering a glimpse into the face behind this high-profile case.

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.