from PxHere
Writing about the shooting of two National Guardsmen in DC yesterday morning, I observed, “Given that more information is likely to come available soon, I’ll refrain from speculating on the motives of the shooter.” More information has indeed come to light and, alas, my instincts were pretty close.
NYT (“D.C. Shooting Suspect ‘Could Not Tolerate’ the Violence of His C.I.A.-Backed Unit in Afghanistan, a Childhood Friend Said“):
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.
The suspect received asylum from the U.S. government in April, according to three people with knowledge of the case who were not authorized to speak publicly.
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.”
Leaving him in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan would have been a death sentence. While that’s of small comfort to the families of his victims, one of whom is now dead, that would have been unconscionable.
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 officer 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.”
[…]
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 U.S. citizenship to an Afghan soldier who had worked alongside American forces during the war.
A CBS News report (“What were the Afghan ‘Zero Units’ that the National Guard shooting suspect reportedly worked for?“) adds:
An image of an ID badge circulating widely online Thursday that purportedly shows the suspect in the shooting of the National Guard members says he was assigned to the “Kandahar Strike Force” or “03” unit, one of a number of so-called “Zero Units” that worked closely with U.S. and other foreign forces during the war in Afghanistan.
The badge also carries the words “Firebase Gecko,” which was the name of a base used by the CIA and special forces in Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan, inside what was previously the compound of the Taliban’s founding leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar.
[…]
The “Zero Units” were exclusively composed of Afghan nationals and operated under the umbrella of the National Directorate of Security, or NDS, the intelligence agency established with CIA backing for Afghanistan’s previous, U.S.-backed government.
A former senior Afghan general under that previous government told CBS News on Thursday that “03 unit, also known as The Kandahar Strike Force (KSF), was under special forces directorate of NDS. They were the most active and professional forces, trained and equipped by the CIA. All their operations were conducted under the CIA command.”
The units were known in Afghanistan for their secrecy and alleged brutality, and members were implicated in numerous extrajudicial killings of civilians, particularly during night raids.
They were considered by the U.S. and its international partners to be among the most trusted domestic forces in Afghanistan.
[…]
As a member of a Zero Unit, the suspect would have been virtually guaranteed a route to asylum in the U.S. because members of these elite units were high on the list for Taliban retaliation after the group retook control of the country. Many members of these units played key roles in the August 2021 evacuation from Kabul, in return for a guarantee of space on a flight for themselves and their families out of Afghanistan.
Leaving him behind would have been a betrayal of the highest order. As, of course, were his actions on Wednesday. But one strongly suspects there are mental health issues here.
Obviously, the attack was well planned. He drove all the way from the Seattle area to carry it out. Why he targeted National Guard troops in DC, neither of whom had any connection to US operations in Afghanistan, is unclear.
