Investigators consider potential Taliban blackmail as motive in shooting of National Guard troops: report

Investigators are looking into the possibility that the Afghan national charged in the shooting of National Guard troops in Washington, DC may have been blackmailed by the Taliban, the ruling party in his home nation. Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who has been arrested for the shooting of West Virginia troops Sarah Beckstrom fatally and Andrew Wolfe, who is in critical condition, has been charged with first-degree murder.

"US intelligence is currently pursuing whether a Taliban hit squad threatened the suspect’s family," The Daily Mail reports. Lakanwal drove from Bellingham, Washington to the nation's capital and allegedly opened fire on National Guard troops near the White House. 

He came to the US after President Joe Biden's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 after working alongside Americans in Afghanistan and serving as part of the Afghan fighting force against the Taliban, which eventually took over. He was granted asylum in the US.

Lakanwal has family remaining in Afghanistan and investigators are considering as a line of inquiry that he may have had concerns about their safety and was perhaps urged to "complete the mission or face his loved ones in Afghanistan being beaten, killed or even beheaded."

Lakanwal was living in Bellingham with his wife and children and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said that he had been radicalized to hate America after coming here. A report from NPR citing an unnamed "volunteer" in Washington state said that Lakanwal was under mental health strain.

He also may have been worried about money and obtaining a Green Card as the Trump administration sought to revisit the asylum cases of those "vetted" under the Biden administration. His asylum was granted under the Trump administration.

The motive in the shooting has been puzzling investigators, although he allegedly shouted "Allahu Akbar" before pulling out a Smith & Wesson revolver and firing at the victims in an ambush attack.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe said that Lakanwal had worked with the CIA. "The Biden administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the US government, including CIA," Ratcliffe said.

He went on to say that Lakanwal's work with the CIA was "as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation."