What we know about Rahmanullah Lakanwal’s turn from CIA-vetted fighter to National Guard murder suspect

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, and his family were able to come to the US four years ago after he was reportedly in a brutal CIA-backed "Zero Unit" commando squad that has been accused of murder and torture of civilians, according to the New York Post. After the country fell to the Taliban once the Biden administration withdrew in a botched operation, he was able to come to the US and live in a Washington State apartment that went for $2,000 a month.

“This individual — and so many others — should have never been allowed to come here," CIA Director John Ratcliffe said on Thursday. “Our citizens and servicemembers deserve far better than to endure the ongoing fallout from the Biden Administration’s catastrophic failures. God bless our brave troops.”

Lakanwal was in the elite NDS-03 counterterrorism unit in Afghanistan, which is one of at least five "Zero Units" that coordinated with the CIA, per the report. Lakanwal was "clean on all checks" when he was vetted by the CIA, according to a senior US official who spoke to CNN.

When President Donald Trump was asked about how he was able to work with the CIA and then commit the shootings in DC, the president responded, “He went cuckoo. I mean, he went nuts." According to a childhood friend of Lakanwal, he had mental problems after serving in Afghanistan.

“When he saw blood, bodies, and the wounded, he could not tolerate it,” the friend told reporters. “It put a lot of pressure on his mind.”

Shawn VanDiver, the founder and president of nonprofit group #AfghanEvav, which helped resettle Afghan refugees in the United States, said of the suspect, “He betrayed his family. He betrayed every American that helped him get here. He betrayed the United States government." The nonprofit did not help resettle Lakanwal.

After settling in Washington state, he would often play video games such as Call of Duty, according to neighbors of the family. One relative said that his last job was working as a contractor for Amazon. “We were the ones that were targeted by the Taliban in Afghanistan,” the relative said. “I cannot believe it that he might do this.”

A motive has not been reached for why Lakanwal went across the country and decided to allegedly shoot the National Guard troops.