D.C. Shooting Suspect 'Could Not Tolerate' the Violence of His C.I.A.-Backed Unit in Afghanistan, a Childhood Friend Sai

[demmiblue]

Source: NYT

The Afghan refugee accused of shooting two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., fought in the late days of the U.S. war there as part of a “Zero Unit,” a paramilitary force that worked with the C.I.A., according to a person briefed on the investigation and an Afghan intelligence officer familiar with the matter. The units were known for their brutality and labeled “death squads” by human rights groups.

The suspect, identified by federal officials as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, grew up in a village in the eastern province of Khost. A childhood friend, who asked to be identified only as Muhammad because he feared Taliban reprisals, said that Mr. Lakanwal had suffered from mental health issues and was disturbed by the casualties his unit had caused.

“He would tell me and our friends that their military operations were very tough, their job was very difficult, and they were under a lot of pressure,” Muhammad said.

Members of the Zero units were among the thousands of Afghans relocated to the United States under the Biden administration after the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops in August 2021, which allowed the Taliban to retake control of the country. Federal officials said Mr. Lakanwal was part of that program and had resettled with his family in Washington State.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/27/us/national-guard-dc-shooting-suspect-cia-afghanistan.html?unlocked_article_code=1.4U8.Bba2.Vt9NX-FOxlrn&smid=url-share

[underpants]

1. Damn. A casualty of war in a way. Remember the RW rage during the withdrawal

about leaving friends behind. Operation Pineapple Express and all that. This was one of those people.

[Figarosmom]

13. That's what I was just thinking

The right was laying into Biden about leaving the Afghani people that helped our troops.

[The Madcap]

2. Ok, so they blame Joe Biden

for allowing someone who fought for us to resettle in the U.S. under the asylum program.

If fighting for the U.S. means that you will be stuck in your country in the event the U.S. loses or pulls out, why would anyone in their right mind fight for the U.S. side? There just has to be more to his motive than this story presents.

[SunSeeker]

5. The shooter was granted asylum by Trump.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/officials-criticize-biden-vetting-afghan-shooting-suspect-was-granted-asylum-2025-11-27/

[stopdiggin]

8. you state the obvious

And this is one more reason why electing (and appointing) back-stabbers and people of no moral character - presents such a (long and short term) danger to the country.

A U.S. with no friends or reliable allies in the world .... Is a mere shadow of it's former self.

[Figarosmom]

14. I'm only guessing

But I think he heard trump was reviewing all of the asylum seekers and was afraid his visa would be revoked and he would be deported to a certain death.

He likely saw just like we did , trump revoke visas of others and thought his was going to be next.

[IronLionZion]

3. "suffered from mental health issues"

I hate this excuse for shootings

[GreenWave]

7. Also to hide pro trump fanatics

[Grins]

10. Would it make it better if it said "PTSD?"

Mental was my first guess.

[IronLionZion]

20. People suffering from PTSD need treatment not guns

USA has plentiful access to mental health treatment, therapy, group counseling, meds, etc. Way better than the Middle East for sure where they may be culturally resistant to seeking treatment.

So I don't accept it as an often repeated excuse when somebody shoots a bunch of people in our country.

[Baitball Blogger]

4. Probably something similar occurs to our

Soldiers who return and lose their minds.

[COL Mustard]

6. So, let me make sure I understand...

He had enough of violence in Afghanistan so he came here to perpetrate more violence against people who had nothing to do with his unit back in Afghanistan? Hmmm...gonna need to muddle that one around for a while.

[eppur_se_muova]

17. It doesn't make sense except that all the pressure of that experience was still sloshing around in his head years later

... and then one day, quite possibly not due to any identifiable cause, it finally blew out.

[Botany]

9. Blowback from Florida 2000 and bush v Gore which got us 9-11 and unneeded wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

No other way to spin it.

[yardwork]

11. I was thinking the same.

If fault is to be laid, it belongs on the doorsteps of two Republican misadministrations: W and Trump.

[Botany]

12. And the Supreme Court of bush v Gore ... especially Sandra Day O'Conner who ruled that the counting of

…. votes by legal voters in Florida was illegal and Scalia’s reason to hear the case @ all was that
the w bush would be embarrassed by something or an other because he was already declared the
winner by the media. I will guarantee you that the Republicans in Florida knew that an honest count
would have made Al Gore President. President w ignored over 70 warnings about about Al Qaeda,
bin Laden, hijacking planes, and plans to attack Washington D.C. and NYC and the rest is

Liberal Media =

[Aussie105]

15. A lot of immigrants come into the country from war torn countries.

Carrying a huge load of PTSD.

No support, just assumed to be able to delete all those experiences and settle down to being a useful member of society.

Human nature doesn't work that way.

We have machete wielding violent gangs who make the news here occasionally.

Most of them come from African countries with civil wars happening.

[eppur_se_muova]

16. I had a suspicion that this had something to do with his personal experiences in the Afghan War.

I remember that WV units were among the first sent in, and two WV casualties within a week made the local news. It happened again a few weeks later. Of course, WV has an unusually high percentage of its population in military service of one kind or another. So maybe it's all coincidence -- or maybe he took a special dislike to WV soldiers.

One of the casualties owned a bicycle shop down by the river; I used to walk by there all the time. It was really weird in the post-9/11 atmosphere to walk by there and know that a guy who used to work there had died fighting the Taliban, thousands of miles away.

[WarGamer]

18. Brilliant... we invited a Death Squad commander into the country and made him a resident.

Brilliant.

[AloeVera]

19. Bad things can happen to countries that operate Death Squads.

The arrogance of a country that believes only THEIR innocents matter while murdering the "natives" with impunity all over the world...

Oh the tears and outrage when the monster it created in its own image is unleashed on the "wrong people"....

Truly