ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A federal jury in Virginia has found a suspected ISIS militant guilty of conspiracy in connection with the devastating 2021 suicide attack at Kabul’s airport that occurred during America’s military exit from Afghanistan.
Mohammad Sharifullah now faces up to two decades behind bars following his conviction on Wednesday for providing support to ISIS-K, the regional branch of the Islamic State. The case gained national attention when former President Donald Trump highlighted it during a congressional address last year. Sharifullah chose not to take the stand during his week-long trial.
The August 26, 2021 bombing claimed the lives of roughly 160 Afghan civilians and 13 American military personnel. The attack happened as U.S. forces were managing evacuation efforts at the airport, when a single bomber set off an explosive device near the facility’s Abbey Gate entrance.
While the Virginia jury found Sharifullah guilty of supporting the terrorist organization, they could not reach a unanimous decision on whether fatalities at the airport directly stemmed from his conspiracy. Had they agreed on that point, Sharifullah could have received a life sentence instead of the current maximum of 20 years.
Sharifullah showed no apparent emotional response when the verdict was read. U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga has not yet scheduled his sentencing hearing.
Defense lawyer Lauren Rosen contended that government prosecutors lacked concrete evidence connecting her client to the bombing beyond his own statements made during extensive FBI interviews. She suggested Sharifullah may have told agents what he believed they wanted to hear, potentially out of fear of mistreatment while in Pakistani detention before his transfer to the United States.
“The problem was, he didn’t know much about what actually happened that day,” Rosen told jurors during the trial’s closing arguments. “The government has told you nothing about how this attack actually happened.”
Justice Department attorney Ryan White painted Sharifullah as a key figure in orchestrating the Abbey Gate attack and claimed he participated in other ISIS-K operations, including the group’s March 2024 assault on a Moscow concert venue that resulted in approximately 140 deaths.
“The defendant thought nothing of killing,” White said. “For him, it was just another day at the office.”
According to a U.S. Central Command investigation, the Abbey Gate attacker was identified as Abdul Rahman al-Logari, an Islamic State member who had been freed from an Afghan prison by Taliban forces. FBI documents indicate Sharifullah recognized the bomber as someone he had encountered during his own imprisonment.
Congressional testimony from a former Marine revealed that he and colleagues had identified two suspicious individuals on the morning of the attack but were denied authorization to intervene. Despite this, the Central Command investigation determined that the snipers had not actually spotted the real bomber and concluded the attack could not have been prevented.
Last year, a prosecutor working on the Abbey Gate case was dismissed after facing public criticism from a conservative commentator regarding his service during President Joe Biden’s administration. Michael Ben’Ary’s removal was part of a wider effort to replace Justice Department officials considered insufficiently loyal to Trump.
Throughout his recent presidential campaign, Trump frequently criticized Biden’s handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal and held him responsible for the Abbey Gate tragedy.
However, Biden’s administration was implementing a withdrawal agreement and schedule that Trump’s first presidency had negotiated with the Taliban in 2020. A 2022 analysis by a government-appointed investigator found that decisions by both administrations contributed significantly to Afghanistan’s military collapse and the Taliban’s return to power.
Prosecutor White revealed that Sharifullah had told a reporter he wanted to “catch and kill the crusaders” from America for invading his homeland following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
“This case is not complicated,” White said. “The defendant told you everything you need to know.”
Defense attorney Rosen argued that American officials took ISIS claims of responsibility for the airport bombing at face value without proper scrutiny. She proposed that militants from a Taliban faction who were stationed at Abbey Gate might have been involved in the attack.
“You can’t base your verdict on mere conjecture and speculation,” Rosen said. “That’s what the prosecution is asking you to do.”
