Afghans in US issue plea to Trump after ‘tragic’ Washington DC shooting

Afghans living in the US have condemned Wednesday’s “deeply tragic” deadly shooting attack in Washington DC, while stressing that the suspect – who moved to the US from Afghanistan four years ago – does not represent them.

The alleged gunman, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, entered America under a programme that offered special immigration protections to Afghans who worked with the US in the wake of the its troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom, 20, was killed in Wednesday’s shooting, and a colleague, Andrew Wolfe, 24, is said to be fighting for his life.

In response, US President Donald Trump has halted the processing of all immigration requests from Afghans, ordered a review of green cards issued to individuals from 19 countries, and threatened a wider crackdown on migrants from what he calls “third-world countries”.

The Afghan Community Coalition of United States expressed its sympathy for families of the victims, calling for a “comprehensive investigation” but urging the US government not to delay or suspend Afghan immigration claims.

“Twenty years of Afghan-US partnership must not be forgotten,” the coalition’s statement said, nodding to the two-decade effort launched by the US in 2001 to overthrow Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers and establish security in the country.

Afghans living in America told the BBC they had been horrified by the Washington DC attack, which they emphasised was the act of just one person.

They spoke anonymously out of fear of reprisals by the Taliban, which took back control of Afghanistan following the US troop withdrawal in 2021.

One of the Afghans, who made his move after the US withdrawal, described Wednesday’s incident as “deeply tragic”. He noted the timing ahead of Thanksgiving, and amid a “highly charged political environment in Washington DC”.

But he highlighted that the shooting was an “individual criminal offence, not representative of a community”.

“Afghans in the United States are hardworking, tax paying members of society,” he added. “They remain grateful to America for the evacuation efforts during the crisis in Kabul.”

Thousands of Afghans scrambled to escape the country in 2021, many via Kabul, as the US withdrew its troops and the Taliban swept in.

The suspect, Mr Lakanwal, is said by US officials to have had a relationship with US forces in Afghanistan while they were stationed there. He helped guard US forces at Kabul airport at the time of the withdrawal, a former military commander who served alongside him told the BBC.

He came to the US the same year. He applied for asylum in 2024, and his application was granted earlier this year, an official told the BBC’s partner CBS News.

Another Afghan, who also moved to the US following the country’s withdrawal from Afghanistan four years ago, labelled Wednesday’s shooting “really shocking”. He said he was praying for the families of the victims.

He suspected that it was an “individual crime which is committed without any support, participation and co-operation of others”, and said the attack “should not be counted for the whole community”.

Another Afghan man living in the US who spoke to the BBC said the shooting had been a “very devastating event for all immigrants”, adding that the political reaction had left many people in a state of uncertainty.

“It’s really bad for everyone that the Trump administration wants to re-evaluate the process of immigration,” he said. “It’s time consuming and no-one knows what will happen.”

The situation felt more acute due to the threats in his country of origin, he said: “For us Afghans there’s problem for us in Afghanistan as well as here.”