The Foreign Office has strongly condemned the shooting of 2 US National Guard personnel in Washington DC, saying that this incident is a worrying sign of the re-emergence of terrorism at the global level.
On Wednesday, two National Guard officers were seriously injured in a shooting a few kilometers away from the White House. US President Donald Trump called the incident an act of terrorism.
The Foreign Office said in a press release issued on Friday that “Pakistan strongly condemns the shooting incident that took place in Washington DC, in which an Afghan citizen was allegedly involved. We are with the family of the deceased official and pray for the speedy recovery of the injured.”
The Foreign Office said that this incident is definitely an act of terrorism and a serious attack on the American soil. In the last two decades, Pakistan has suffered many such terrorist incidents, which have clear links to Afghanistan.
The Foreign Office added that this incident highlights the challenges of international terrorism and underscores the need for global cooperation against it.
The statement said that “this incident is a worrying sign of the re-emergence of terrorism at the global level, the international community should pay attention to it and re-invigorate joint efforts”.
Pakistan is committed to working with the US and the international community to tackle the common challenge of terrorism.
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Death of a National Guard officer
Trump said Thursday that Sara Backstrom, 20, died of her injuries and Andrew Wolf, 24, was fighting for his life, while investigators are investigating the incident as a terrorist attack.
The FBI searched multiple locations during its widening investigation, including a home in Washington state believed to belong to the suspect, who authorities say was part of a CIA-backed unit in Afghanistan before coming to the U.S. under a resettlement program in 2021.
FBI Director Kash Patel told a press conference that agents seized a number of electronic devices, including cellphones, laptops and iPads, from the home of the suspect, 29-year-old Rehmanullah Lakhanwal, and questioned his relatives.
The suspect drove from one corner of the country to the other and ambushed National Guard officers on patrol near the White House Wednesday afternoon, said Washington, D.C., U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pero.
“This terrorist attack is shocking and terrifying for our country, in which a brutal man shot and killed two West Virginia National Guard officers who were part of the DC Task Force,” Donald Trump said.
Donald Trump blamed former President Joe Biden’s administration, saying the alleged attacker went “crazy,” and that he was among the thousands of Afghans who arrived without vetting in 2021, a claim Trump provided no evidence for.
“This act of the suspect reminds us that our top national security priority must be to maintain complete control over who is entering and staying in our country,” President Trump said.
The suspect, armed with a high-powered .357 Magnum revolver, opened fire on two National Guard members and was later wounded in a shootout with other soldiers, Trump said, and remains in critical condition at a hospital.
