(COMBO) This combination of undated pictures obtained on November 28, 2025, courtesy of the US Attorney’s Office, shows National Guard members Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe (L) and Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, the two soldiers shot on November 26 in Washington, DC. Two National Guard troops were shot on November 26 near the White House in what authorities described as a targeted attack by an Afghan migrant who had previously worked with the US military in Afghanistan, a case now being treated as a terrorism investigation. US President Donald Trump said on November 27 that one of the soldiers, Sarah Beckstrom, had died and the other was fighting for his life. (Photo by HANDOUT / US Attorney’s Office / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – MANDATORY CREDIT “AFP PHOTO / US ATTORNEYS OFFICE/HANDOUT” – NO MARKETING – NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS
The Taliban government said Wednesday that the shooting of two National Guard members, one fatally, by an Afghan suspect in Washington last month had nothing to do with Afghanistan.
“The person who committed this act was trained by the Americans themselves,” foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said in a video published by his office, the first official Taliban reaction to the shooting.
“So this incident does not concern the Afghan government or people,” he said.
The suspected gunman, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to the November 26 shootings.
According to US officials, Lakanwal had been part of a CIA-backed “partner force” fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.
He came to the United States as part of a resettlement program following the American military withdrawal from the country in 2021.
“They trained this man, employed him, and he left Afghanistan through an illegal process that did not match international norms,” Muttaqi said.
AFP
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