Zero Units were involved in operations against the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and the Haqqani network, but they have also come under controversy for human rights violations and killings of civilians.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal came to the US in 2021 as part of an evacuation programme.

US authorities on Thursday revealed more details about Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the Afghan national who has been taken into custody for opening fire at two National Guard troops in Washington DC on Wednesday.

According to Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, the 29-year-old suspect worked for the CIA in his native country during the US invasion of Afghanistan.

Kandahar Strike Force

CBS News reported that Lakanwal was part of the Kandahar Strike Force, a Zero Unit of the CIA in Afghanistan.

Zero Units refers to secretive Afghan paramilitary forces trained, funded, and supported by the CIA during the war in Afghanistan.

Cpl. Bobby Liverman, an infantryman with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, clears an area during Operation Southern Strike III in the village of Jandad Kalay, district of Spin Boldak, Kandahar province, Afghanistan, Sept. 9, 2012. (Photo: Department of War )

What did Zero Units do

Though they were part of the Afghan National Directorate of Security, Zero Units operated with a high degree of autonomy under the guidance of US intelligence.

Zero Units were involved in operations against the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and the Haqqani network, but they have also come under controversy for human rights violations and killings of civilians.

Operated form Mullah Omar`s compound

Kandahar Strike Force was known as Unit 03 and was posted in Firebase Gecko, a base used by the CIA and special forces in Kandahar. Firebase Gecko was the former compound of the Taliban`s supreme leader, Mullah Omar. It was a diamond shaped compound that was surrounded by mountains on the north and east and by the city of Kandahar to the south and west.

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Zero Unit after US withdrawal

Zero Unit members were considered among the most trusted domestic forces in Afghanistan, and many also played a crucial role in securing the Kabul airport and evacuating US personnel during the August 2021 withdrawal.

Due to their close ties with the US, Zero Unit members became high-priority targets for the Taliban, and many of them had to be flown out of Afghanistan for their safety.

Taliban walk in front of a military airplane a day after the US troops withdrawal from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan August 31, 2021. (Photo: REUTERS/File)

Lakanwal was one of the roughly 76,000 people brought to the US under Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden administration program that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans.

Lakanwal, who entered the US in 2021, has been living in Bellingham, Washington, about 127 kilometres north of Seattle, with his wife and five children, said his former landlord, Kristina Widman.