Rahmanullah Laknwal, the suspect in the shooting of two U.S. soldiers near the White House, was previously a member of Afghanistan’s Special Forces (QSF) in Kandahar. He arrived in the U.S. in 2021 and currently resides in northwest Washington State with his five children, according to reports.
The shooting occurred on Wednesday, when two U.S. National Guard soldiers were shot and severely wounded near the White House.
Following the attack, former U.S. President Donald Trump stated that the suspect had entered the country from Afghanistan in 2021.
He claimed that such individuals had been allowed into the U.S. without proper security vetting during President Joe Biden’s administration.
Trump added that his administration would reexamine all Afghan immigration cases that were processed during Biden’s presidency.
According to reports, Laknwal was taken into custody while injured.
In response to the shooting, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it had suspended the processing of all Afghan immigration applications.
“Effective immediately, processing of all immigration requests from Afghan nationals is halted indefinitely pending a further review of security and vetting protocols,” the USCIS said on its X (formerly Twitter) account.
A source told Pajhwok Afghan News that the motive behind the incident remains unclear and it may take weeks or months for a full investigation to unfold.
However, according to public information, the suspect, Rahmanullah Laknwal, is 29 years old, has five children, and moved to the U.S. with his family after the fall of the previous Afghan government. His immigration documents were accepted in April of this year.
An NBC report cited a relative of Laknwal, who confirmed that he arrived in the U.S. in September 2021 after working for 10 years with the Afghan military alongside U.S. Special Forces.
The relative added that Laknwal had spent part of his service at a base in Kandahar.
The source explained that Laknwal grew up in Khost province and now lives in Bellingham, Washington, with his wife and five children. The source also noted that Laknwal had worked for Amazon and Amazon Flex.
An ID card, a copy of which has circulated on social media, shows that Rahmanullah Laknwal was a member of Afghanistan’s former Special Forces (QSF) in Kandahar before 2021.
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