DC Soldier’s Killer Tied To CIA’s Secretive Afghan ‘Zero Unit’

Why did he turn? Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who served with an elite CIA unit in Afghanistan and ambushed and shot two West Virginia National Guard troops near the White House in Washington, D.C., is now facing first-degree murder charges.

This, after Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died of her injuries. She was shot in the face and chest.

The other trooper, Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains in critical condition. This was a horrible tragedy, and we mourn for Sarah and her family. She died courageously and far too young. And we pray for Andrew to survive.

While the FBI is still searching for a motive, Lakanwal, according to friends and fellow unit members, was struggling with depression, mental illness, his ability to support his family, and fear for his life after being assaulted on the street.

Sadly, his pleas for help to the CIA reportedly went unanswered. He felt abandoned by the American government. And this is when people are most easily radicalized. We must also determine how he may have been radicalized, or by whom, to commit murder against American soldiers.

This is critical.

While his crime is unforgivable, and he must be punished to the fullest extent under the law — Zero Unit fighters protected CIA officers on missions and at forward bases, so attacking American troops was antithetical to their code, former members say — he fought bravely for us, and with us, in Afghanistan and deserved better from the CIA and the U.S. government.

The CIA’s Zero Unit employed the cream of the crop of Afghan fighters to support elite U.S. forces hunting the Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan. They participated in ferocious firefights and battles. Despite this individual heinous attack on U.S. troops by one former member, they should not be punished as a group.

The Afghans who fought with us still deserve our support.

Lakanwal was only five when the U.S. and allies invaded Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. And 14 or 15 when recruited by the CIA, bravely serving with U.S. forces for 10 years. He was resettled in Washington state 20 years after 9/11 — as part of “Operation Allies Welcome” in the aftermath of Joe Biden’s cowardly retreat from the country in 2021.

As The Washington Post reported, until now, the CIA had never publicly acknowledged its work with the Zero Units, which suffered allegations of human rights violations, including by Human Rights Watch in 2019, which claimed they had conducted summary executions and other abuses.

Former members of the strike force and former CIA officers who worked with them reject the allegations. They say the Zero Units were trained in the laws of armed conflict and that each operation was carefully reviewed in advance.

While some, including President Trump and myself, argue that many Afghans who entered the U.S. after Biden’s disastrous retreat were not well vetted and a full reevaluation is needed, Lakanwal, known as “Shafiq” while fighting for the Agency in Kandahar, was better vetted than most Afghans.

Note: I fought tirelessly to help pre-vetted, at-risk Afghans who served with U.S. forces come to the U.S. during and after the reckless Biden withdrawal. And I would do it again.

NBC News reported:

Members of “Zero Units,” also known as National Strike Units, were among the most extensively vetted of any Afghans who worked with American forces. CIA officers hailed their bravery, skill and loyalty, and the agency prioritized their evacuation from Afghanistan following the fall of Kabul in 2021 because they were prime targets for the Taliban.

Earlier this month, Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma joined a group of former CIA and military officers. “The Zero Units were the cream of the crop. They were the top of the top 1%,” Mullin said in a video posted by FAMIL.

As Rolling Stone noted:

No one just joined the CIA’s Zero Units. Soldiers had to be recommended by a close family member or friend. The CIA then vetted each member before even offering a probationary period. The vetting process was so successful that Zero Units never suffered an insider attack — when Afghan soldiers turned against U.S. advisers. [emphasis added]

Slots in the Zero Units were coveted because of better pay, better training, and the chance to work alongside elite U.S. operators. In later years, there were also opportunities to immigrate and resettle in the U.S. after at least one year of service and U.S. government approval.

They “took malignant actors off the battlefield and saved American lives, period,” said Andrew Sullivan, who served as an Army officer in Afghanistan and is now executive director of No One Left Behind, a nonprofit that helps resettle Afghans who worked for the U.S. military, reported NBC News.

The Post added:

“During my service in Afghanistan, every day we lived, ate and fought with some incredible Afghan patriots who saw the U.S. as indispensable in their fight for survival,” said Marc Polymeropoulos, who served as an intelligence community base chief in eastern Afghanistan.

“I recall after a ferocious firefight, in which our Afghan indigenous partners put a real hurt on the Taliban, a senior U.S. military officer asked me about the prowess of our allies,” he said. “My response was simple and to me, quite truthful. I stated that our partners constituted the finest fighting force in eastern Afghanistan, who we trusted with our lives each and every day.”

Lakenwal should have been further vetted for his asylum claim during the latter part of the Biden administration (some argue that this vetting was either not done or was rushed). He was ultimately approved for asylum under the current Trump administration.

But life in America proved hard for Lakenwal, who, isolated and despite his legal status, faced serious issues, such as lack of a work permit, that prevented his ability to work to provide for his wife and five children. He was struggling and the U.S. government didn’t help.

Rolling Stone spoke to a former Afghan unit mate who said that in addition to his depression and financial worries, he also seemed to have felt abandoned by the U.S. government.

“He’s very sad [depressed],” said Lakanwal’s Afghan unit mate. “He’s very worried …like, he’d say, ‘I am working nine years or 10 years with [the] U.S. government. [They] never answer my phone [call].’”

The man said Lakanwal sought help in June from a CIA program designed to aid Zero Unit veterans with immigration issues. Rolling Stone reviewed a screenshot of the group chat with a CIA representative. Lakanwal posted messages asking for help. His last post went unanswered and was reportedly deleted by the chat’s administrator.

However, AP reported that the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) reportedly visited Bellingham in March 2024 after receiving pleas for help, but Lakanwal and his family refused their assistance.

It is also reported that Lakenwal, who spoke English poorly, failed to follow through with his English lessons, isolating him further.

Regardless, it was clear that this man, who fought for America, was deeply troubled, and America didn’t do enough to help him. Some say this tragedy would have been avoided with better vetting, or by denying all Afghan allies entry to the U.S. This may be true.

But it may also have been avoided if the government took better care of those loyal foreigners who fought bravely with U.S. forces, and were invited to come here, especially when they begged for help.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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