The shooting took place at a subway station in the US capital. Two National Guard soldiers were patrolling there when a man went on the attack, according to police.
Both the soldiers – a 20-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man – and a suspected perpetrator are being treated in hospital. The soldiers' injuries are described as serious.
It all took place a couple of blocks from the White House.
"This is an ongoing terrorism investigation," FBI Director Kash Patel said at a press conference on Thursday.
More soldiers
The man who has been arrested has been identified as a 29-year-old from Afghanistan. He previously served in Afghanistan's US-sponsored army for 10 years, relatives and government sources tell NBC News.
The man worked in collaboration with the US government and also specifically with the CIA, "as a member of a partner force in Kandahar," CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed in a statement.
President Trump is taking several measures, including a pause in all immigration cases involving Afghan citizens.
"Now we must reexamine every single foreigner who has entered our country from Afghanistan," says Trump, who wants to emphasize that migration represents the "single greatest threat" to US national security.
The president announces that the National Guard presence in Washington, D.C. will be reinforced with an additional 500 soldiers. More than 2,000 soldiers are already in place there – a controversial measure that is the subject of political conflict.
"We were targets"
The suspected perpetrator lives with his wife and five children on the other side of the country, in Washington state.
Afghanistan's army was built up by the US after its invasion. It fought alongside US soldiers against the Taliban and other resistance groups. The suspect arrived in the US in September 2021 - a few weeks after the US withdrew all forces from Afghanistan in chaotic conditions where the Taliban took back government power.
Many Afghans who were considered to be in particularly great danger at the time, due to their cooperation with the United States and the Western countries involved, were helped to escape Taliban rule.
Many other Afghans did not receive that help and remained behind.
