The director of national intelligence said at least 2,000 Afghan nationals admitted after the 2021 withdrawal have known or suspected ties to terrorism, prompting a full re-vetting effort.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said an estimated 2,000 Afghan nationals admitted to the United States following the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan have ties to terrorism, raising renewed concerns about vetting failures during the Biden administration’s evacuation effort.
Gabbard made the disclosure during an interview on Fox News after a contentious House Homeland Security Committee hearing Thursday, where Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem outlined what she described as ongoing national security risks to the homeland.
According to Gabbard, nearly 200,000 Afghan nationals were admitted to the United States during the Biden administration following the collapse of the U.S.-backed Afghan government. Among them was Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who is accused of shooting two National Guard members, killing one, just blocks from the White House on the eve of Thanksgiving. While no formal terrorism charges have yet been filed against Lakanwal, the attack is being investigated as an alleged act of terrorism and has been described as such by senior officials, including Gabbard and Noem.
A January 2022 report by the U.S. Department of Defense Inspector General acknowledged significant vetting failures during the evacuation process. The report found that Afghan evacuees were not screened by the National Counterterrorism Center using all Department of Defense data before arriving in the continental United States.
“[The DoD] found that Afghan evacuees were not vetted by the National Counter-Terrorism Center (NCTC) using all DoD data prior to arriving in CONUS,” the report stated.
It further noted that during an internal analytic review, National Ground Intelligence Center personnel identified Afghan individuals with derogatory information in the Defense Department’s biometric database who were believed to be present in the United States.
Gabbard said the findings align with intelligence assessments conducted under the current administration. “The vast majority of them were not properly vetted. They certainly were not vetted at anywhere near the standard that we require under this administration of allowing people into our country,” she said. “And of that number, we know that there are at least 2,000 who are here who have ties to or are known or suspected terrorists.”
She said the National Counterterrorism Center, working alongside the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, has begun a comprehensive effort to re-vet every Afghan national admitted during the Biden administration.
“We’ve got to realize what’s happening here within the context of the greater threat that we face,” Gabbard said. “We know that al Qaeda and ISIS continue to actively plot attacks against our homeland. And so when you look at the spread of the radical Islamist ideology and the propagation of it, you look at active plots, and they’re looking for people who can carry out those plots.”
In July, Border Czar Tom Homan said the Trump administration would revisit the Afghan evacuation program and re-examine all prior admissions. “We’re going to re-vet them because we don’t think the last administration properly vetted them,” Homan said. “This administration will do things the right way, we’ll make sure everyone is vetted properly.”
Following last month’s shooting in Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump said his administration would move to pause migration from certain countries, including Afghanistan, citing ongoing security concerns as federal agencies reassess the risks posed by inadequately vetted entrants.
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