In brief
In a tragic incident in Washington, D.C., Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national trained by U.S. forces, has been charged with first-degree murder following the shooting of National Guard members Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe. The Taliban's foreign minister has stated that this act is not a reflection of the Afghan people, emphasizing the need to separate individual actions from the broader Islamic nation. Following the shooting, the U.S. has implemented strict immigration changes, impacting asylum applications and vetting processes for Afghans entering the country.
JALALABAD, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan national charged in the shooting of two U.S. National Guard members last week had been previously trained by American forces, and his actions should not reflect on the people of Afghanistan, the country’s foreign minister said.
The remarks by Amir Khan Muttaqi were the first public comments on the case by Afghanistan’s Taliban government. Muttaqi spoke during a meeting of community elders on Wednesday, according to a statement released by his ministry.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, has been charged with first-degree murder after one of the two victims, West Virginia National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died of wounds sustained in the Nov. 26 shooting. The second victim, Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, was critically wounded.
Lakanwal pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to murder and assault charges during his first hearing before a judge in Washington, D.C. He appeared remotely by video from a hospital bed as he was also shot during last week’s attack.
“This is an individual incident and the person who committed this act was trained by the Americans,” Muttaqi said, adding that “this issue has nothing to do with the noble people of Afghanistan.”
In the wake of the shooting, the U.S. government has introduced sweeping immigration changes, including pausing asylum applications and requiring increased vetting for certain immigrants.
In Afghanistan, Lakanwal had worked in one of the special Afghan Army units known as Zero Units, which were backed by the CIA. He entered the United States in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a program that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the Taliban seized power
U.S. forces “personally trained this person, made him their official employee,” the minister added, and described the evacuation in which Lakanwal fled Afghanistan for the United States as “an illegal process that did not comply with any international principles.”