For the suspected shooter, there is a long path of conflict from Afghanistan to the United States

road God bless Lakanwal From a village in Afghanistan to the corner in Washington, D.C., where authorities say he opened fire on two National Guard soldiers, this was America’s longest war.

He was 5 years old when the US Army invaded the country after the attacks of September 11, 2001, and as a young man he joined the “Army.”Unit zero“, an Afghan paramilitary force working with the Americans.

This connection appears to have provided Lakkanwal with an exit ticket from Afghanistan when the Taliban overthrew the US-backed government in 2021, allowing him to flee with his wife and children.

They started a new life in Bellingham, Washington, where he worked merchant His children were playing football in the corridors of their modest residential complex.

On Thursday, authorities were struggling to understand what prompted Lakanwal to abandon that fresh start and drive cross-country to Washington, where authorities say he shot one security detail and seriously wounded another outside a Metro station.

It was also not clear why he chose the corner where Air Force Sergeant Andrew Wolfe and Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom of the West Virginia National Guard were patrolling Wednesday afternoon.

Authorities say he ambushed them in front of a subway station farragut West, Repeatedly shooting the guard with a gun .357 caliber Then he directed him towards the other person before shooting him.

Lakhanwal is currently under guard in a Washington, D.C., hospital, where he is receiving treatment for his injuries.

He is charged with three counts of assault with intent to murder because he was armed, according to Jeanine Pirro, federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia.

President Donald Trump It was announced Thursday night that Beckstrom died from his injuries, meaning the suspect is expected to be charged First degree murder.

Lakhanwal grew up in a village in Khost Province, southeastern Afghanistan, in a country at war.

At some point, he joined Unit Zero, according to a person familiar with the investigation and an Afghan intelligence official familiar with the matter.

So were the Zero Units, which were officially part of the Afghan intelligence service but operated outside the usual chain of command They were recruited, trained, equipped, and supervised largely by the CIAAccording to Human Rights Watch.

These units specialized in night raids and covert missions. Taliban officials and human rights groups described them as “death squads.”

Human Rights Watch claimed to have documented several cases in which these units were responsible for “Extrajudicial executions Enforced disappearances, indiscriminate air strikes, attacks on medical facilities and other violations of international humanitarian law.

The CIA denied these accusations of brutality, claiming they were the result of Taliban propaganda.

Lakanwal’s unit was stationed at KandaharIt is a city destroyed by bombings and assassinations during the war.

According to an intelligence officer, one of Lakkanwal’s brothers was the deputy commander of the unit.

A childhood friend, who asked to be named only as Mohammed because he feared Taliban retaliation, said Lakhanwal had suffered Mental health problems He was distraught at the injuries his unit had caused.

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

Zero units played a crucial role in the US military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, securing the remaining US and NATO bases as well as the Kabul airport.

When the Taliban regained control, many members of the Kandahar unit were evacuated with American assistance.

Many were resettled in the area Seattle.

Lakanwal was among thousands of Afghans brought to the United States as part of a temporary program called Operation Allied Welcome.

This program was implemented during the presidency Joe Biden To manage the migration of Afghan citizens fleeing the Taliban regime, including those who assisted US forces.

The program allowed some 76 thousand Afghans evacuated They entered the United States on humanitarian grounds after the US military’s chaotic withdrawal, according to the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute.

The State Department has approved Whatcom County, Washington, on the Canadian border, as a refugee resettlement site Global Reliefa Christian humanitarian organization that helps refugees spend their first 90 days in the United States.

Dozens of Afghan families arrived in the province in the weeks after the Taliban seized power.

Lakanwal ended up in Bellingham, the capital of Whatcom County.

The authorities stated that he lives there with his wife and several children.

He was granted asylum from the U.S. government in April, according to three people familiar with the case who were not allowed to speak publicly.

For several weeks last summer, according to information provided by Amazon, Lakhanwal worked as a driver for Amazon AmazonFlexDeliver packages as an independent contractor.

The last delivery was in August.

Christina Weidman said she owns a property in Bellingham that she once rented to him and his family.

Weidman added that the rent was negotiated through World Relief.

In a statement, the World Relief Organization declined to specify whether it helped Lakanwal or his family, and said it does not sponsor Afghans brought to the United States since 2021.

Instead, the group said it provided services to “people appointed to us” by the government.

Kalin Lincecum, a former neighbor, described the apartment complex where Lakanwal most recently lived as a “difficult” rent-subsidized home:

People with disabilities, who fled from domestic violence, Recovering and elderly populations who require oxygen.

He and other neighbors said Lakhanwal’s family was conservative, but he remembers once discussing Afghan food with his wife.

Some neighbors, who left the building on Thanksgiving afternoon, said they were upset when they learned the suspect lived in the same complex.

Rachel Haycox said she was asleep inside her third-floor unit at the Bellingham Apartments when she was awakened by the sound of a raid about 3 a.m. Thursday.

“At first we thought they were from ICE,” Haycox said.

But they shouted:FBI“And they have a search warrant.”

He said they sent a drone and a wheeled robot to the apartment to conduct the inspection, which lasted about two hours.

By Thursday afternoon, the law enforcement officers had left and no one answered the knocks on the cracked door.

c.2025 The New York Times Company