A picture of an ID badge circulating extensively on-line that exhibits the suspect within the taking pictures of the Nationwide Guard members says he was assigned to the “Kandahar Strike Drive” or “03” unit, one among quite a few so-called “Zero Items” that labored carefully with U.S. and different overseas forces through the warfare in Afghanistan. A former senior Afghan navy supply confirmed to CBS Information that the ID badge is genuine.
A U.S. official briefed on the taking pictures investigation and a former senior Afghan Nationwide Protection and Safety Forces member advised CBS Information that the suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, had been a part of a “Zero Unit,” an Afghan intelligence unit and paramilitary power that labored with the CIA. The items have been completely composed of Afghan nationals and operated below the umbrella of the Nationwide Directorate of Safety, or NDS, the intelligence company established with CIA backing for Afghanistan’s earlier, U.S.-backed authorities. They have been thought of by the U.S. and its worldwide companions to be among the many most trusted home forces in Afghanistan.
These items are sometimes labeled “loss of life squads” by human rights teams. The items have been identified in Afghanistan for his or her secrecy and alleged brutality, and members have been implicated in quite a few extrajudicial killings of civilians, notably throughout night time raids.
The U.S. official briefed on the investigation confirmed the suspect had been disturbed by the casualties on this unit and, extra lately, deeply troubled by the killing of his shut buddy abroad.
The picture of the ID badge additionally carries the phrases “Firebase Gecko,” which was the title of a base utilized by the CIA and particular forces in Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan, inside what was beforehand the compound of the Taliban’s founding chief, Mullah Mohammad Omar.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe stated Thursday the suspect had beforehand labored “with the U.S. Authorities, together with CIA, as a member of a accomplice power in Kandahar.”
Lt. Gen. Sami Sadat, a former commanding common of the Afghan Nationwide Particular Operations Corps, advised CBS Information that Lakanwal labored for the “03” unit for eight years. A former senior Afghan common below the U.S.-backed authorities advised CBS Information on Thursday that “03 unit, often known as The Kandahar Strike Drive (KSF), was below particular forces directorate of NDS. They have been probably the most lively {and professional} forces, skilled and outfitted by the CIA. All their operations have been carried out below the CIA command.” Lakanwal was a part of the unit’s operations workforce, Sadat stated.
“He was identified for being accountable {and professional} inside his workforce and had robust anti-Taliban views,” Sadat stated.
“Whereas we couldn’t set up any connection between him and any terrorist group, we additionally can’t fully rule it out,” Sadat stated. “Nonetheless, we will verify that his background doesn’t present any hyperlinks to terrorists.”
Lakanwal’s household confronted critical threats from the Taliban, which led him to relocate them from their native Khost province to Kabul, Sadat stated. Within the U.S., Sadat stated Lakanwal was “usually calm and maintained a clear report, although he suffered from PTSD.”
As a member of a Zero Unit, the suspect would have been just about assured a path to asylum within the U.S. as a result of members of those elite items have been excessive on the record for Taliban retaliation after the group retook management of the nation. Many members of those items performed key roles within the August 2021 evacuation from Kabul, in return for a assure of area on a flight for themselves and their households out of Afghanistan.
There was no fast response from Afghanistan’s present Taliban authorities, and officers in Kabul didn’t reply to CBS Information’ requests for touch upon the arrest in Washington.
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