A suspected Afghan terrorist who killed National Guard troops Sarah Beckstrom and wounded Andrew Wolfe near the White House once fought for a CIA-backed paramilitary “Zero Unit,” sources confirm.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, was part of elite Afghan squads trained, funded, and equipped by the CIA to battle the Taliban alongside U.S. forces for nearly a decade.
Lakanwal fled Afghanistan after the Biden administration’s chaotic 2021 pullout and resettled in Bellingham, Washington, as a father of five. He joined a Zero Unit around age 16 in 2012, reportedly rising to team leader and GPS specialist before departing in 2021.
A childhood friend described to the New York Times the mental toll of the violence: “When he saw blood, bodies, and the wounded, he could not tolerate it.” The friend added that operations were “very tough,” leaving Lakanwal under immense pressure that led to substance abuse and a brief, impulsive marriage.
President Donald Trump announced the death of 20-year-old Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, stating, “I must unfortunately tell you that just seconds before I went on, right now I heard that Sarah Beckstrom of West Virginia… she was savagely attacked. She’s dead… Incredible person. Outstanding in every single way in every department. That’s horrible.”
.@POTUS announces that U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom of Summersville, West Virginia, one of the National Guardsmen savagely attacked yesterday in Washington, D.C., has just passed away.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 27, 2025
May God be with her family 🙏 pic.twitter.com/BEbAOxmJme
Beckstrom, who enlisted in June 2023 with the West Virginia National Guard’s 863rd Military Police Company, and 24-year-old Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe of the 167th Airlift Wing had patrolled D.C. since August as part of heightened security deployments.
The ambush-style attack near Farragut Square has raised questions about vetting CIA allies resettled in the U.S. Zero Units, tied to Afghan intelligence but reliant on CIA support, conducted high-stakes raids, per Rolling Stone reports cited in coverage. The Wall Street Journal confirmed Lakanwal’s CIA-linked work in Afghanistan.
Journalist Lara Logan warned against broad blame in a tweet: “They want you to hate all Afghans. They want you to blame refugees. Whatever you do, don’t look past that to those orchestrating this.”
National Guard presence in D.C. had become routine amid urban security efforts, making the victims fixtures in the capital before the sudden violence. Lakanwal faces upgraded charges including first-degree murder. The case spotlights lingering fallout from U.S. foreign policy, mental health crises among proxies, and risks to Americans at home.
