The two soldiers, part of a militarised law enforcement mission ordered by United States (US) President Donald Trump months ago and challenged in court by officials of the District of Columbia, were hospitalised in critical condition. The suspect, who was wounded in an exchange of gunfire before he was arrested, was identified by the Department of Homeland Security as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national.
Trump, who was at his resort in Florida at the time of the attack, released a prerecorded video statement late on Wednesday calling the shooting “an act of evil, an act of hatred and an act of terror.” He said his administration would “re-examine” all Afghans who came to the US during Joe Biden’s presidency.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services agency later said that it has halted processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals indefinitely, “pending further review of security and vetting protocols.”
According to the DHS, Lakanwal entered the US in 2021under Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden-era program to resettle thousands of Afghans who assisted the US during the Afghanistan war and feared reprisals from Taliban forces who seized control of their homeland after the US withdrawal.
–Reuters–
