Washington ¨C Two National Guard soldiers were shot and critically wounded on Wednesday in downtown Washington near the White House in what officials described as a targeted ambush, and the suspect was in custody after suffering gunshot wounds during the incident.
The suspect was identified by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national. Authorities said they had yet to determine a motive for the shooting.
According to DHS, Lakanwal entered the U.S. in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, a Joe Biden-era program to resettle thousands of Afghans who assisted the U.S. during the Afghanistan war and feared reprisals from Taliban forces who seized control of their homeland after the U.S. withdrawal. The DHS did not include other details of his immigration record, but a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Lakanwal applied for asylum in December 2024 and was approved on April 23 of this year, three months after U.S. President Donald Trump took office.
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