SARAH BECKSTROM, aged just 20, was days into her deployment with America’s National Guard when she was murdered in cold blood by a foreigner welcomed into the country with open arms.
An Afghan given sanctuary and shelter for his entire family put a pistol to her head in a heinous daylight attack in the nation’s capital on Thursday, sparking righteous uproar across the US.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, was shot by another young guardsman and remains under arrest where he is now facing first-degree murder charges over what law enforcement said was a “targeted” terror attack.
US President Donald Trump told the nation in his Thanksgiving address on Thursday that a second ambushed guardsman, Staff Sgt Andrew Wolfe, 24, is still “fighting for his life”.
The FBI raided Lakanwal’s squalid residence in Washington state where he lived with his wife and FIVE resettled children — all welcomed to the West under the auspices of escaping the Taliban.
Would-be murderers
According to journalist Hafizullah Maroof, who claims to “work with the BBC World Service”, poor misunderstood Rahmanuallah was a “sporty man and loved cricket”.
Yes, a fawning write-up for the guy who drove 3,000 miles across America with a revolver to execute a young woman at point-blank range.
A remarkable number of fighting-age men appear to have been poets and human-rights campaigners back home
Harry
He is said to have been housed by dopey liberal millionaires on his arrival.
So, how many more would-be murderers are roaming the streets in the West?
Well, 200,000 Afghans were settled in the US following its botched withdrawal after 20 years of war.
Yes, like in Britain, many of these people should legitimately be protected from the resurgent Taliban.
And yes, we should argue whether that should have taken place in the West or in culturally similar neighbouring countries such as Pakistan.
But only a fool would believe that every single Afghan resettled — at times alongside TWO DOZEN of their “family members” — has a legitimate claim to stay and is not a risk.
Lakanwal was one of more than 70,000 to enter America under Operation Allies Welcome, under which it was dubiously claimed the overstretched security services did a thorough check on each and every applicant.
Current FBI Director Kash Patel is sceptical, warning on Friday: “The prior administration made the decision to allow thousands of people into this country without doing a single piece of background checking.”
Earlier this year, Congress got hold of presidential orders made by then US President Joe Biden, during 2021’s catastrophically handled exit from Afghanistan, to “err on the side of excess” when loading up the planes while Taliban Land Cruisers tore up the dust on the outskirts of Kabul.
Anyone who could “plausibly fall into the categories” for selection, as well as generic “Afghans at risk”, got a seat.
Yet Biden’s Press Secretary Jen Psaki boasted in 2021: “I can absolutely assure you that no one is coming into the United States of America who has not been through a thorough screening and background check process.”
In Britain, more than 35,000 Afghans have been resettled, including 7,000 caught up in a bungled data breach which saw the names of those who had helped and fought alongside British forces published online by accident.
But let’s not pretend that all of these settlements were legitimate.
Afghan scammers have been exposed for selling fake death-threat letters pretending to be from the Taliban, to help grease asylum claims, for as little as £40.
And a remarkable number of fighting-age men appear to have been poets and human-rights campaigners back home.
I can’t be alone in thinking our Government would do well to heed similar advice when it comes to checking who is in this country and who needs to leave.
Harry
Despite similar claims from the British Government, that all these new arrivals and their families have been given comprehensive background checks, data quietly published under Freedom of Information laws to the Guido Fawkes website paint a different picture.
Some 28 resettled Afghans have “been arrested for an offence involving violence; weapons; terrorism/extremism; sexual offences”.
There have been 40 “safeguarding” issues reported, while one arrival has been reported to anti-terror scheme Prevent.
And that’s before we get to the 27,285 Afghans who have crossed the Channel on small boats since 2018. In the year ending June 2025 alone, Home Office data shows Afghans were the top arrivals, with 6,360 entering Britain illegally.
And how’s it all going? There seems to be a near-weekly scandal that alone should serve as electric-shock therapy to anyone still arguing we don’t have a problem here.
Take the two Afghan asylum seekers arrested and charged in the UK for allegedly raping and strangling a 12-year-old girl in Nuneaton, Warwicks.
More bloodshed
Or the Afghan migrant charged with fatally stabbing a dog walker in Uxbridge, West London.
Or the case of Fayaz Khan — a charming Afghan who sports a tattoo of an AK47 on his face and was jailed for five years for death threats against Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
It’s high time Britain acted before there’s more bloodshed
Harry
After his case was highlighted by Mr Farage, Khan released a video warning: “I come to England because I want to marry with your sister. I’m coming to England. I’m going to pop, pop, pop.”
I could go on . . . but do we really have to go on like this?
In the wake of Washington’s brutal shooting, President Trump has ordered a review of every US visa issued to what he calls “the Third World” and paused further entries.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services boss Joseph Edlow says he began “a rigorous re-examination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern”.
Afghanistan is top of that list, alongside countries such as Iran, Somalia and Venezuela.
The President warns the day has come for the West to stop “being politically correct, and just plain STUPID, when it comes to immigration”.
And I can’t be alone in thinking our Government would do well to heed similar advice when it comes to checking who is in this country and who needs to leave.
It’s high time Britain acted before there’s more bloodshed.
