- A bold opening: The Taliban regime reacts to a violent incident in Washington by insisting it has no link to Afghanistan, no matter the implications.
The Taliban government stated on Wednesday that the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington last month—one of whom died—by an Afghan suspect is not Afghanistan’s concern.
Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi released a video through his office, marking the first official Taliban response to the incident. He asserted, “The individual who carried out this act was trained by the Americans themselves,” and insisted that this event does not involve the Afghan government or its people.
In the legal proceedings, the suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to the November 26 shootings. U.S. officials have indicated that Lakanwal was part of a CIA-backed “partner force” operating against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
This report was published in Dawn on December 4, 2025.
And here’s where it gets controversial… does linking or separating a nation’s responsibility from individual actions in foreign military contexts help or hinder accountability? The Taliban’s framing shifts blame away from Afghanistan as a country, but observers may argue that a national government has a broader stake in the conduct of groups connected to it or supported by it. What do you think—should state actors be held collectively responsible for violence committed by individuals who have trained under foreign programs associated with that state? Share your views in the comments.
