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Afghan Taliban Say DC Shooting ‘Individual Act,’ Not Linked to Afghanistan
Afghan Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi says the Washington DC National Guard shooting by Afghan immigrant Rahmanullah Lakanwal is a criminal act, not linked to Afghanistan or its government.
MH
by Muhammad Hashir
2025-12-03
Afghan Taliban Say DC Shooting ‘Individual Act,’ Not Linked to Afghanistan

The Afghan Taliban government has commented for the first time on the Washington, D.C., National Guard shooting, insisting the incident is a criminal act by an individual and does not involve Afghanistan or its people.

Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi made the statement Wednesday following the shooting, in which suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan immigrant, is accused of killing one National Guard member and critically wounding another.

Lakanwal, who made his first court appearance remotely from a hospital bed, has been charged with murder and other offences.

“This incident has nothing to do with the honourable people of Afghanistan or with the Afghan government. This is an individual criminal act, and the person who committed it was trained by the Americans themselves,” Muttaqi said.

US officials have confirmed that Lakanwal had served in a CIA-backed unit in Afghanistan and entered the United States in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden-era program assisting Afghans fearing Taliban reprisal.

Muttaqi criticized the US for the process, stating:

“They trained him, they assigned him, and through an illegal process, contrary to any international standard, they brought him from Afghanistan to the United States.”

Lakanwal’s case has become a flashpoint in U.S. immigration debates, as he was previously granted asylum under former President Trump.
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