The C.I.A. and an Afghan intelligence official said that the shooter had been part of an Afghan “partner force,” known as a Zero Unit, trained and supported by the agency in the southern province of Kandahar.

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An aerial view of a street, with uniformed troops and police officers walking near police tape.

Law enforcement at the scene of the shooting. The suspect had worked with a C.I.A.-supported military unit in Afghanistan.Credit...Eric Lee for The New York Times

Julian E. BarnesHamed AleazizElian PeltierSafiullah Padshah

By Julian E. BarnesHamed AleazizElian Peltier and Safiullah Padshah

Elian Peltier and Safiullah Padshah reported from Kabul, Afghanistan.

Nov. 27, 2025

Updated 12:15 p.m. ET

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.

“The Biden administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the U.S. government, including C.I.A., as a member of a partner force in Kandahar,” the C.I.A. director, John Ratcliffe, said in a statement, adding that the accused assailant “should have never been allowed to come here.”

An Afghan intelligence officer, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t allowed to comment publicly on the issue, confirmed that Mr. Lakanwal had served in Kandahar in one of the Zero Units, which were formally part of the Afghan intelligence service. The units had been trained for nighttime raids targeting suspected Taliban members, and were accused by human rights groups of widespread killings of civilians.

The intelligence officier said that one of Mr. Lakanwal’s brothers was the deputy commander of the Zero Unit in Kandahar, which was known as 03.

Muhammad, Mr. Lakanwal’s childhood friend, said he has last seen him a few weeks before the Taliban takeover in 2021, when Mr. Lakanwal came to Khost to marry his second wife. He had started smoking weed, Muhammad said, and ended up divorcing his new wife a few days after the wedding. Muhammed recalled that Mr. Lakanwal told him: “When he saw blood, bodies, and the wounded, he could not tolerate it, and it put a lot of pressure on his mind.”

Taliban officials on Thursday denounced the actions of the Zero Units during the war. Sediqullah Quraishi Badloon, a provincial official in Nangarhar, in eastern Afghanistan, accused the groups of looting after the chaotic fall of the U.S.-backed government.

“After that, they fled to the United States in search of a better life,” Mr. Badloon said in a social media post. “These traitors still do not let the Afghan people live in peace.”

The C.I.A. has denied the allegations of brutality among the units, saying they were the result of Taliban propaganda. Current and former officials said the units played an important role in the American evacuation of Afghanistan. The units helped both U.S. citizens and Afghan partners flee to the airport and get on flights out of the country.

In at least one instance, however, U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services used a Human Rights Watch report decrying the units as a reason to deny asylum to an Afghan soldier who had worked alongside the U.S. forces during the war.

Julian E. Barnes covers the U.S. intelligence agencies and international security matters for The Times. He has written about security issues for more than two decades.

Hamed Aleaziz covers the Department of Homeland Security and immigration policy for The Times.

Elian Peltier is an international correspondent for The Times, covering Afghanistan and Pakistan.

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