D.C. Shooting Suspect Worked With C.I.A.-Backed Unit in Afghanistan

The C.I.A. said that the shooter had been part of a C.I.A.-backed Afghan “partner force” in the southern province of Kandahar, a stronghold of the Taliban insurgency during the two-decade war there. Officials identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29.

“In the wake of the disastrous Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the U.S. government, including C.I.A., as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation,” Mr. Ratcliffe said in a statement.

An Afghan intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t allowed to comment publicly on the issue, confirmed that Mr. Lakanwal had served in Kandahar in one of what were known as Zero Units, which were formally part of the Afghan intelligence service. The Zero Units were a paramilitary force that had been trained for nighttime raids targeting suspected Taliban members, and were accused by human rights groups of widespread killings of civilians.
The intelligence official said that one of Mr. Lakanwal’s brothers was the deputy commander of the Zero Unit in Kandahar, which was known as 03.