Afghan National Who Worked with CIA in Kandahar Charged with Attempted Murder After Ambushing Two National Guard Troops Near White House

A 29-year-old Afghan evacuee who previously collaborated with the CIA and U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan has been charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder after allegedly shooting two D.C. National Guard soldiers in a targeted ambush just blocks from the White House Wednesday morning.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who entered the United States in September 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, remains in federal custody and is not cooperating with investigators, according to law enforcement sources. The attack occurred around 9:45 a.m. near the Farragut West Metro station as the soldiers, part of a routine security patrol supporting Inauguration preparations, walked in uniform.

Surveillance footage reviewed by authorities shows Lakanwal allegedly approaching the troops from behind, drawing a 9mm handgun, and firing multiple rounds at point-blank range. One soldier, identified by family members as Spc. Andrew Wolfe of the Virginia National Guard, was struck in the neck and chest. The second soldier was hit in the torso. Both remain in critical but stable condition at George Washington University Hospital.

“He walked right up and executed them like it was a mission,” a senior D.C. police official told reporters on condition of anonymity. “This was cold-blooded.”

In a stunning disclosure late Wednesday, CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed that Lakanwal had worked directly with U.S. government entities, including the Central Intelligence Agency, as part of a local partner force in Kandahar province for nearly a decade.

“The individual in custody today was brought to the United States precisely because of his prior cooperation with CIA and U.S. Special Forces,” Ratcliffe said in a written statement to Fox News. “That cooperation ended with the Biden administration’s catastrophic withdrawal in 2021. Bringing him—and tens of thousands of others with minimal vetting—has now put American lives in danger on our own soil.”

President Donald Trump, speaking from the White House South Lawn Thursday morning, called the shooting “an act of pure evil” and directly tied it to the chaotic 2021 evacuation.

“This monster should have never been allowed into our country,” Trump declared. “We are going to find every single person who was waved through during that disastrous withdrawal, and if they pose even the slightest threat, they will be gone—immediately.”

Lakanwal, his wife, and five children had been living in Bellingham, Washington, since 2022. Neighbors described the family as quiet and religious. A cousin who served alongside Lakanwal in the Afghan National Army told NBC News the suspect lost several relatives to Taliban reprisals because of his work with Americans.

“We were the ones the Taliban hunted,” the cousin said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “I still can’t believe he would do this.”

Federal prosecutors filed charges Thursday afternoon that also include assault on federal officers with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. The FBI has taken over the investigation and is treating the incident as an act of terrorism, though no manifesto or claim of responsibility has been found.

Sources familiar with the investigation say Lakanwal legally purchased the handgun used in the attack in Virginia in early 2025, shortly after being granted asylum.

The ambush has reignited fierce debate over the vetting of more than 76,000 Afghans airlifted to the U.S. during the frenzied final days of the Kabul evacuation. Congressional Republicans have scheduled emergency hearings for next week, with several lawmakers already demanding a full halt to all Afghan parolee programs.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, responding to questions Thursday, stressed that the investigation is ongoing and urged the public not to jump to conclusions about broader communities.

As barricades continue to go up around the capital ahead of January’s presidential inauguration, the shooting serves as a grim reminder that the fallout from America’s longest war may have followed thousands of evacuees—and their complicated pasts—straight to the homeland.

More charges are expected as early as Friday. The soldiers’ names will be fully released once all family members have been notified.