The United States has suspended immigration procedures for all Afghan citizens after the attack on the National Guard in Washington, where an Afghan wounded two agents deployed near the White House. US President Donald Trump called the attack an “act of terrorism” and promised an even tougher line. The suspect was identified as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who served for 10 years with American forces before being evacuated to the US in August 2021, following the Taliban’s return to power. Lakanwal, as confirmed to Fox by CIA director John Ratcliffe, collaborated with various government agencies, including the secret services. The FBI instead reported that the man had submitted an asylum application in early 2024 which was accepted at the beginning of this year. The shooting occurred in the afternoon in the heart of Washington, where hundreds of National Guard soldiers have been patrolling the streets since August at Trump’s request and against the advice of local Democratic officials.
The dynamics were reconstructed by Jeffrey Carroll, deputy police chief of Washington DC, according to whom the attacker ambushed his victims. Lakanwal, Carroll explained, “turned the corner, grabbed a firearm and opened fire on National Guard members.” Washington DC police said they were “not aware of any motive” at this time. It is the most serious incident involving the National Guard since Trump began deploying troops to the streets of several Democratic-majority cities shortly after he began his second term in January.
In a short video, the tycoon stated that the suspect arrived in the United States in 2021 “on those infamous flights”, i.e. those used to evacuate Afghans who, following the US withdrawal, would have risked reprisals from the Taliban for having collaborated with Washington. The attack, the president of the United States promised, will give renewed impetus to the administration’s current crackdown on illegal immigration.
Trump highlighted the interconnectedness of three politically critical issues: his controversial use of the military to maintain law and order, immigration and the legacy of the US war in Afghanistan. The attack, in which both the soldiers and the alleged perpetrator were injured, was “an act of evil, an act of hate and an act of terror,” Trump said, “it was a crime against the entire nation.”
Shortly after the president’s speech, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the federal agency that oversees legal immigration, suspended “effective immediately the processing of all immigration applications for permanent Afghan citizens pending further review of security and screening protocols.” Shawn VanDriver, president of AfghanEvac, a group that helped resettle Afghans in the United States after Washington’s withdrawal, stressed that “this individual’s isolated and violent act should not be used as an excuse to define or denigrate an entire community.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the dispatch of another 500 troops to the US capital, bringing the total to 2,500. Last Thursday, a federal judge ruled that sending National Guard troops to Washington was illegal.