Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, is accused of shooting two National Guardsmen near the White House on November 23, the day before Thanksgiving. The attack occurred just blocks from the presidential residence, raising urgent questions about security in the nation’s capital. New details have emerged regarding Lakanwal’s background, revealing his long-standing ties to U.S. intelligence operations in Afghanistan. According to Afghan Evac, a non-profit specializing in Special Immigrant Visas (SIV), Lakanwal served in an elite CIA counterterrorism unit in the country prior to entering the U.S. in 2021.
At the time, Lakanwal was part of NDS-03, an elite unit based in southern Afghanistan. This unit operated out of what was once the compound of the late Taliban leader Mullah Omar, commonly known as