National Guard shooting suspect served in CIA counterterrorism unit, group says

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the Afghan man who allegedly shot two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, previously served in one of Afghanistan's elite counterterrorism units, according to AfghanEvac, a nonprofit run by U.S. veterans and others who served in Afghanistan.

The unit was operated by the CIA with direct U.S. intelligence and military support, according to AfghanEvac.

Lakanwal's unit, NDS-03, operated at the direction of the CIA and fought the Taliban on behalf of the U.S. government, the group said.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in a statement earlier Thursday that the shooter involved in the attack, who came to the U.S. from Afghanistan in 2021, was admitted into the U.S. "due to his prior work with the U.S. Government, including CIA."

He is likely to ha