Offered special immigration protections to Afghans who had worked with US forces in the wake of the American withdrawal from Afghanistan.

At the time, the Taliban had taken back control of Afghanistan, raising fears of retribution against those who had co-operated with the US. Mr Lakanwal once worked alongside the CIA, the agency’s current director has said.

Mr Lakanwal applied for asylum in 2024 and his application was granted earlier this year, an official told the BBC’s US partner CBS News.

He was arrested after the attack and was said to be not co-operating with authorities. Trump styled the attack as an “act of terror”.

He said the following day that one of the two members of the National Guard who were shot had died. Sarah Beckstrom succumbed to her injuries, he said.

The 20-year-old from West Virginia was working in the city as part of Trump’s deployment of National Guard members to crack down on crime.

She had volunteered to work in DC over the US Thanksgiving holiday, Attorney General Pam Bondi said.

The second National Guard member, 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, was said by Trump to be “fighting for his life”.