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More than 5,000 Afghan nationals brought to the US by the Biden administration after the withdrawal from Afghanistan were flagged as “national security” threats, data from the Department of Homeland Security reveal.
The data show that 6,868 were identified with “potential derogatory information,” after entering the US as part of “Operation Allies Welcome,” the official name of the government program to relocate Afghan allies and their families to the US.
Of that total, 5,005 were flagged as a potential national-security threat. Just under a thousand were flagged as “public safety” threats and 876 were flagged for fraud.
The data were given to Sen. Chuck Grassley, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, after he questioned the Department of Homeland Security in May 2024.
Although many of the red flags were resolved, close to 900 individuals were still flagged as national-security threats.
After Wednesday’s shooting of two National Guard soldiers by an Afghan national, President Trump has ordered a review of security and vetting procedures for migrants from 19 high-risk countries, along with every asylum decision taken by the Biden administration.
“I spent years calling attention to the weak vetting standards in Operation Allies Welcome, despite considerable pushback from the Biden administration and many of my colleagues in Congress,” Sen. Grassley told The New York Post.
“Sadly, this past week’s tragedy in Washington only validates my concerns further. I appreciate the Trump administration’s efforts to respond to my oversight and restore order in the wake of the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan and the chaos that followed,” he said.
Investigators are considering whether post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) could have been a factor in the shooting.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the man accused of the attack, was a member of a secretive CIA-backed paramilitary in his home country before he relocated to the US in 2021.
Lakanwal was part of a “Zero Unit”, paramilitary units that fought alongside US forces in Afghanistan for over a decade. Critics referred to them as “death squads” and accused them of atrocities including torture and indiscriminate killing of civilians.
Although these groups were part of the Afghan government’s intelligence agency, they were recruited by the CIA and US special operations forces.
Lakanwal’s role in the Zero Units is unclear at this point, but he is reported to have joined in 2012 as a security guard when he was just 16 years old.
He served in the group for a decade, was reportedly promoted to team leader, serving as a GPS specialist.
Sources told The New York Post that federal investigators are now considering whether he was suffering from PTSD that may have worsened after he was brought to the US.
A friend of his told The New York Times thar he “could not tolerate” the things he had seen and done while working with the Zero Units.
“When he saw blood, bodies, and the wounded, he could not tolerate it,” the friend said.
“It put a lot of pressure on his mind.”
The sources also said that a wide range of potential motivations, including foreign influence and ideological grievance, are being considered.
He is reported to have shouted “Allahu Akhbar”—“God is great”—during the rampage.
Lakanwal is accused of driving to Washington DC from his home in Washington State and shooting two National Guard soldiers, one of whom—Sarah Beckstrom, 20—has now died.
As well as a first-degree murder charge, Lakanwal faces two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed, and three counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.
“There are certainly many more charges to come, but we are upgrading the initial charges of assault to murder in the first degree,” Pirro told Fox News.
The President and FBI Director Kash Patel have described the shootings as a terrorist attack.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has said the Department of Justice will seek the death penalty for Lakanwal.
