Before shooting two National Guard members in the U.S. capital, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal was suffering from “mental problems” related to his service in a unit called Zero Unit, a paramilitary force of the Afghan National Security Directorate created by the CIA during NATO’s invasion of Afghanistan. “He told me and our friends that their military operations were very tough, their work was very hard, and they were under a lot of pressure,” said a childhood friend. “When he saw blood, corpses and wounded, he couldn’t stand it and it put a lot of pressure on his mind.”
What kind of pressure is this? The Zero Units are known for “leaving no one alive” during their nightly raids on suspected Taliban members and have been accused of numerous human rights abuses, ranging from executions to the widespread killing of civilians, including children attending religious schools. Lakanwal was reportedly a member of the Kandahar Raid Force called “03,” and his security card indicated a connection to the CIA and US special forces outpost Firebase Gecko in the area. A former commander said Lakanwal had worked for the unit for eight years, meaning he was recruited when he was just 17 years old. A Taliban provincial official called the zero units “safari units,” saying that “these traitors are still not letting the Afghan people live in peace” by spreading propaganda and “holding secret meetings with the West and Pakistan to bring foreign wars to Afghanistan.”
Translated and edited by L. Earth
