Washington D.C. – Two National Guard soldiers were hospitalized in critical condition Wednesday afternoon following a shooting near Farragut Square, just blocks from the White House. the soldiers, deployed to Washington from West Virginia, were victims of what D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser described as a “targeted shooting.”
A 29-year-old Afghan national is in police custody after being injured in a shootout with law enforcement shortly after 2:15 p.m. (10:15 p.m. in Paris). Investigators have identified the suspect as having arrived in the United States in September 2021 as part of Operation “Allies Welcome,” the initiative launched during the chaotic U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan following the Taliban’s resurgence.
The attack has prompted the Trump management to announce a review of the status of the more than 70,000 Afghans who entered the U.S. under Operation “Allies Welcome,” granted two years to regularize their immigration status. The program was enacted to provide refuge for Afghans deemed vulnerable or who had assisted U.S. efforts during the two-decade conflict. The administration cited national security concerns as the impetus for the review.
