ISLAMABAD: The Taliban government in Afghanistan has launched a blisteringcounter-attack against the United States after an Afghan national,previously trained and evacuated by American forces, allegedly shot twoNational Guard soldiers in Washington DC last week, killing one andcritically wounding another.
Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi declared on Tuesday that thesuspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who appeared in court via video link fromhis hospital bed on 2 December facing murder charges, acted alone and bearsno connection to either the Afghan people or the Islamic Emirategovernment. In a sharply worded statement, Muttaqi accused Washington ofcreating its own security threat by recruiting, arming, and then resettlingthe gunman under Operation Allies Welcome in 2021.
“This criminal act has nothing to do with the Afghan nation or government,”Muttaqi said, adding that Lakanwal was a former member of CIA-backed unitsoperating against the Taliban before Kabul’s fall. “Those who trained him,employed him, and brought him to America through illegal means thatviolated every international standard are the ones responsible,” he charged.
The shooting has reignited bitter recriminations between Kabul andWashington barely four years after the chaotic US withdrawal. Americanofficials confirmed Lakanwal belonged to specialised Afghan commando unitsthat received direct CIA support and were among the first evacuated whenthe Taliban seized power. Tens of thousands of such former allies wereairlifted to the United States under promises of protection from Talibanrevenge.
Muttaqi’s remarks represent the strongest public condemnation yet by theTaliban leadership of America’s evacuation programme, framing it as areckless importation of trained killers onto US soil. The statement stoppedshort of celebrating the attack but made clear Kabul views the incident asblowback from Washington’s own covert operations inside Afghanistan.
The episode has already triggered calls in Congress for tighter vetting ofthe more than 76,000 Afghans resettled under the emergency scheme.Republican lawmakers described the shooting as proof that dangerouselements were waved through despite known risks.
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Taliban officials have consistently demanded the return of all formermilitary personnel evacuated by Western countries, labelling them traitors.Tuesday’s statement marks the first time Kabul has directly weaponised analleged crime by a US-resettled Afghan to attack American policy.
Source:https://www.reuters.com/world/us/afghan-man-charged-with-murder-shooting-national-guard-soldiers-washington-dc-2025-12-02/
Tags: Afghanistan, Taliban, United States, CIA, National Guard
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