(MENAFN) Two members of the US National Guard were shot in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, just before the Thanksgiving holiday, according to reports. The incident occurred near the White House, and the victims remain hospitalized in critical condition.

President Donald Trump condemned the attack in a video message from Florida, describing it as "an act of evil and act of hatred and an act of terror. It was a crime against our entire nation. It was a crime against humanity." He stated that the suspect entered the United States from Afghanistan in 2021 during former President Joe Biden’s administration and vowed "to ensure that the animal who perpetrated this atrocity pays the steepest possible price."

Trump added, "I can report tonight that, based on the best available information, the Department of Homeland Security is confident that the suspect in custody is a foreigner who entered our country from Afghanistan, a hellhole on earth. He was flown in by the Biden administration in September 2021."

Law enforcement sources, cited by US media, identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national, who has been taken into custody. Trump further stressed the need to review all arrivals from Afghanistan, saying, "We must now reexamine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden, and we must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country."

In response to the attack, Trump stated he had instructed the Pentagon to deploy an additional 500 troops to bolster security in the capital. "We will make America totally safe again, and we will bring the perpetrator of this barbaric attack to swift and certain justice," he said.

FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed that the two wounded National Guard members remain in critical condition at local hospitals.

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