U.S. intelligence officials are now reportedly investigating whether the Afghan national accused of murdering a National Guard member near the White House was blackmailed or coerced by the Taliban into carrying out the attack, according to a report cited by The Daily Beast. The possibility adds a disturbing new layer to a case that has already ignited national outrage and intensified scrutiny of the Biden-era Afghan resettlement program.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, faces first-degree murder charges for allegedly shooting two West Virginia National Guard troops on November 26 just blocks from the White House. Twenty-year-old Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom was fatally shot, and Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe remains in critical condition.
Now, according to an unnamed intelligence source quoted in the report, investigators are exploring whether the Taliban threatened Lakanwal’s family in Afghanistan to force him into the attack. “It is by no means our only line of inquiry,” the source said, adding: “People in this country have no idea about the level of stress these people are under.”
The Taliban’s counterintelligence apparatus reportedly includes a brutal unit known as “Yarmouk 60,” tasked specifically with hunting down Afghans who worked with U.S. forces. One cited case involved an Afghan who escaped to Germany with help from allied forces. He believed his family would follow — but members of “Yarmouk 60” allegedly murdered his wife, father, and four children in retaliation.
Lakanwal himself was a married father-of-five and had worked alongside U.S. Special Forces as a GPS specialist. Reports say he was financially struggling and feared being deported back to Afghanistan — where former U.S. partners have been systematically hunted under Taliban rule.
President Donald Trump and prominent allies immediately condemned Lakanwal as a “monster” and “terrorist,” arguing the attack should qualify for the death penalty. Trump also used the case to highlight failures in the Biden administration’s vetting and resettlement decisions following the chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The White House has come under fire from critics demanding to know how Lakanwal entered the United States and remained here under a patchwork of Biden-era and Trump-era immigration decisions. Lakanwal arrived as part of Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome in 2021 and was later granted asylum by the Trump administration in April — though intelligence officials now say that ongoing Taliban threats may have played a role in his psychological deterioration.
The case has fueled intense debate over national security risks linked to hurriedly processed Afghan evacuees, as well as concerns about the Taliban’s reach beyond Afghanistan’s borders.
As investigators continue probing whether Lakanwal acted under duress, the tragic deaths of U.S. service members — on American soil — remain the central focus. For many Americans, the case represents yet another devastating consequence of the Afghanistan withdrawal and the failures of Washington leadership to protect those serving at home or abroad.
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