The Taliban have weighed in on the fatal Washington shooting of two National Guard members last month, asserting that the incident had no connection to Afghanistan.
In a statement released Wednesday, Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said the suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, “was trained by the Americans themselves” and that the attack “does not concern the Afghan government or people.”
Lakanwal, who pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to the November 26 shootings, was part of a CIA-backed “partner force” in Afghanistan before relocating to the United States under a resettlement program following the U.S. military withdrawal in 2021.
“They trained this man, employed him, and he left Afghanistan through an illegal process that did not match international norms,” Muttaqi added.
U.S. authorities continue to investigate the motives behind the attack, which claimed the life of one National Guard member and injured another.
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