By Miriam Raftery

Photos: Tazheem Nizam, CAIR San Diego executive director, and Shawn VanDiver, president of AfghanEvac

December 17, 2025 (San Diego) – Local community leaders who have worked to help Afghan refugees are speaking out over new restrictions imposed on Afghan immigrants following the shooting of two National Guard member in Washington D.C. on November 26 by Rahmanullah Lakanal, an Afghan asylum seeker. A female National Guard member died of her injuries.

 Lakanal,  who previously worked for the CIA-backed Kandahar Strike Force attacking suspected Taliban members and aiding American troops, reportedly was suffering mental health issues before the Washington D.C. shooting, for which he was arrested.

While denouncing the violence and calling for accountability  or the shooter, the local leaders also call on Americans not to demonize all Afghans for the actions of one man.