Footage of Nationwide Guard members Andrew Wolfe and Sarah Beckstrom, who have been shot on Nov. 26 in Washington, D.C., are displayed subsequent to an image of the suspect within the capturing, Afghan nationwide Rahmanullah Lakanwal, on the day of a information convention in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 27.
Nathan Howard/REUTERS
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Nathan Howard/REUTERS
They survived among the Afghanistan Battle’s most grueling and treacherous missions, commonly battling the Taliban in nighttime raids and concrete gun battles. However as soon as evacuated to the U.S., many Afghan fighters who served in “Zero Models” led by the CIA discovered themselves spiraling into despair due to what they noticed as bureaucratic neglect and abandonment by the U.S. authorities, a former CIA operative and a former Afghan fighter concerned within the items instructed NPR.
Amongst their ranks was Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the person charged with killing one Nationwide Guard soldier and critically injuring a second after opening fireplace on them in Washington, DC on Thanksgiving Eve.
The sense of betrayal and frustration reduce so deep, some Afghan troopers dwelling within the U.S. started threatening self-harm.
“Sadly, 4 individuals took their lives,” mentioned Davud, who served as a fight translator in a Zero Unit for greater than a decade.
Davud, who lives now on the West Coast, agreed to be interviewed in regards to the struggles of his fellow troopers provided that NPR recognized him by his first identify and hid his id. He mentioned he fears for the protection of his household nonetheless dwelling below Taliban rule in Afghanistan.
Regardless of their service to the U.S., many Zero Unit fighters have struggled to achieve asylum or everlasting residency within the U.S., in line with Davud. He condemned Lakanwal’s alleged actions, however spoke of the overwhelming psychological well being and emotional challenges fighters face dwelling in exile.
Whereas combating below CIA management, 1000’s of troopers like Davud and Lakanwal confronted among the most harrowing battles of the 20-year Afghanistan battle, typically finishing up two and even three fight missions an evening. Their techniques have been typically brutal, and teams like Human Rights Watch accused them of partaking in torture and unlawful killings.
“I virtually obtained killed by a grenade,” Davud instructed NPR, describing one firefight when an American CIA agent saved his life. “He grabbed me from my physique armor and pulled me again.”
On this Aug. 22, 2021, file photograph supplied by the U.S. Air Power, Afghan passengers board a U.S. Air Power C-17 Globemaster III in the course of the Afghanistan evacuation at Hamid Karzai Worldwide Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan.
MSgt. Donald R. Allen/U.S. Air Power by way of AP
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MSgt. Donald R. Allen/U.S. Air Power by way of AP
After being evacuated to the U.S. in 2021, when the Taliban swept into Kabul, many Zero Unit troopers got here to really feel they’d been deserted by CIA officers. Regardless of years of service — which Davud described as “a brotherhood” — he now believes the company failed to assist his comrades navigate America’s complicated immigration system.
“It is that feeling of such as you did one thing that no person is appreciating,” he mentioned. “That promise that was given to you by your employer was a pretend promise.”
NPR despatched detailed inquiries to the CIA and to the U.S. Immigration and Citizenship and Immigration Providers, asking for remark. Each businesses declined to touch upon the document for this story.
However many facets of Davud’s account of rising stress and frustration amongst Zero Unit fighters dwelling within the U.S. have been confirmed by Geeta Bakshi, a former CIA agent who spent 4 years in Afghanistan.
“These guys have been the tip of the spear,” Bakshi mentioned, describing the CIA’s Afghan Zero Unit program in an interview with NPR. “They have been out on the entrance, in order that American personnel did not should be. They have been those going through the utmost hazard on the battlefield.”
Bakshi now leads a refugee resettlement program, referred to as FAMIL, that focuses on serving to Zero Unit troopers rebuild their lives contained in the U.S. She says her group grew alarmed about rising charges of self-harm amongst former Afghan troopers starting in 2023.
“People from the Zero Models sadly suffered deaths by self-harm,” Bakshi instructed NPR. “We raised this problem with the Biden administration and it was one which we have been very involved about. Once more, we noticed a direct connection to extended immigration delays.”
Bakshi and Davud described struggling to assist a rising variety of Afghan troopers within the U.S. who have been spiraling into melancholy. Davud described one occasion the place a buddy felt more and more hopeless as a result of his immigration standing made it troublesome for him to work.
“He was like, ‘I will go kill myself,’ that is how dangerous it was,” Davud mentioned. “I used to be very anxious for him, however we helped him.” That meant providing friendship, counseling, and help.
Bakshi described a separate incident the place a Zero Unit fighter seemed to be unraveling due to repeated bureaucratic snafus by U.S. officers reviewing his immigration paperwork. “He was instructed, ‘We do not have you within the system.’ This was a person who was in extreme misery. What occurred in his case is there was an error within the spelling of his identify.”
That particular person ultimately obtained a Inexperienced Card, Bakshi mentioned, including that with correct help many Afghan troopers are adapting properly to life in America. In uncommon circumstances the place Zero Unit troopers ended their lives, the neighborhood has held memorials.
“We often do a non secular funeral for them, on their behalf, saying a prayer,” Davud mentioned.
Lakanwal, the Zero Unit fighter accused of fatally capturing one Nationwide Guard soldier and critically wounding one other, additionally struggled together with his immigration standing. He solely obtained asylum safety from the Trump administration in April of this 12 months, almost 4 years after coming to the U.S.
Like others who fought alongside the CIA in Afghanistan, Lakanwal seemed to be experiencing a private disaster which started a minimum of as early as January 2024, in line with a refugee resettlement volunteer who labored with the Lakanwal household in Bellingham, Wash. Emails shared with NPR present he, too, struggled to seek out secure employment.
“My largest concern was that he would hurt himself,” the volunteer instructed NPR. “I anxious he could be suicidal as a result of he was so withdrawn.”
The volunteer spoke with NPR on situation of anonymity as a result of they mentioned they feared for his or her security, in addition to the protection of others of their volunteer neighborhood, due to doable retaliation for having labored with the Lakanwals and different Afghan refugees.
Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem has mentioned that U.S. officers imagine Lakanwal was “radicalized” whereas dwelling in the USA, however the volunteer mentioned they noticed no indicators of radicalization. Noem supplied no proof that Lakanwal was radicalized.
Davud, the Zero Unit fighter, mentioned he did not know Lakanwal personally. He voiced sorrow that his neighborhood of Afghan troopers wasn’t capable of assist him in time.
“We had worse circumstances [of emotional distress] than Lakanwal however we discovered options for them,” he mentioned.
Lakanwal has pleaded not responsible to first diploma homicide and different prices. Within the wake of the assault in Washington, D.C., the Trump administration has frozen all Afghan asylum circumstances and officers say the authorized standing of refugees from Afghanistan dwelling within the U.S. is being reexamined.
Folks pay their respects to the fallen Nationwide Guardsman exterior Farragut West Metro Station in Washington, DC, on November 28, 2025.
Andrew Thomas/NurPhoto by way of Reuters
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Andrew Thomas/NurPhoto by way of Reuters
CIA director John Ratcliffe steered in an announcement that Lakanwal and his fellow troopers weren’t correctly vetted “This particular person — and so many others — ought to have by no means been allowed to come back right here,” Ratcliffe mentioned.
FBI director Kash Patel additionally mentioned the Biden administration did not correctly vet “in any approach, form or kind this particular person and numerous others.”
That account was disputed by Davud., and Biden administration officers who mentioned the Afghans underwent rigorous vetting.
“What they mentioned about Mr. Lakanwal wasn’t vetted? We have been all vetted,” he mentioned, describing years of scrutiny, together with polygraph exams and detailed interviews by the CIA and different federal businesses, in Afghanistan and in the USA.
“We labored with them for twenty years,” Davud mentioned. “I used to be actually shocked by the CIA director’s remark. I felt so betrayed.”
Should you or somebody you understand is fighting ideas of suicide, you may dial or textual content 988 and be related to assist.
