A federal jury in the state of Virginia, United States, has found Sharifullah, a member of the ISIS group, guilty in connection with the deadly attack at Kabul airport in 2021. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and was accused of having a “logistical support” role in the attack.
According to the Associated Press, Sharifullah denied the charges during his week-long trial. This case is one of the significant legal matters related to the events during the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The suicide bombing occurred on September 26, 2021, during the days of the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul and the U.S. withdrawal process, near the Abbey Gate at Kabul airport. At the time, U.S. forces were conducting evacuation operations from Afghanistan.
As a result of the attack, approximately 160 Afghan civilians and 13 U.S. soldiers lost their lives. This incident is considered one of the deadliest attacks during the foreign troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The jury was unable to reach a consensus on whether the victims’ deaths were directly caused by Sharifullah’s conspiracy and cooperation. If they had reached such an agreement, Sharifullah could have faced a life sentence.
The final sentencing for Sharifullah will be announced in the coming weeks, and this stage of the legal process will determine his punishment.
Sharifullah’s defense lawyer, Lauren Rosen, stated during the trial that, apart from Sharifullah’s statements during hours of FBI questioning, prosecutors had not provided any evidence linking him to the attack.
She also mentioned that Sharifullah may have made statements during the interrogation that he believed the authorities wanted to hear, as he feared potential torture in Pakistani detention before being transferred to the U.S.
Reports indicate that Sharifullah had been arrested by Pakistani security forces. U.S. Justice Department prosecutors have stated that he played a key role in planning the Abbey Gate attack and had been involved in several other attacks carried out by ISIS-Khorasan.
The prosecutors specifically referenced the 2022 attack on a concert hall in Moscow, which killed about 140 people, as part of the evidence of the defendant’s involvement in broader ISIS operations.
U.S. Central Command investigations revealed that the attacker at Abbey Gate, Abdul Rahman Logari, was an ISIS member who had previously been released from prison in Afghanistan. According to the FBI, Sharifullah became acquainted with the perpetrator of this attack while in prison.
The prosecutor also stated that Sharifullah had told a reporter that he intended to target U.S. forces because of their military presence in his country.
