Tasked with recce near Kabul airport, had been in Afghan prison until 2 weeks before bombing: ISIS-K terrorist tells FBI

New York: ISIS-K terrorist Mohammad Sharifullah has told the FBI he was tasked with “scouting a route" near the Kabul airport for the August 2021 bombing and had conducted activities on behalf of the terror group “in support of multiple lethal attacks”, including one in Moscow.

Sharifullah, also known as ‘Jafar’, has been charged in a criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of Virginia dated March 2 with “providing and conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organisation resulting in death.”

Sharifullah is being extradited to the US to face charges for his role in the August 26, 2021 bombing that killed 13 United States military service members and about 160 civilians.

US President Donald Trump, in an address to the Joint Session of Congress, said that a "top terrorist" responsible for the August 2021 Abbey Gate bombing at Kabul airport as American forces withdrew from Afghanistan has been apprehended and is being brought to the country to face justice.

Trump did not name Sharifullah and thanked the Government of Pakistan for “helping arrest this monster”.

Sharifullah was interviewed by FBI agents on March 2, and according to the complaint, he will be first brought in custody into the Eastern District of Virginia.

According to the court documents in the case seen by PTI, Sharifullah told FBI agents that he was recruited into ISIS-K in or around 2016 and has since then been a member of the terror group.

“He admitted to supporting and conducting activities on behalf of ISIS-K in support of multiple lethal attacks,” including the attack on Embassy Guards in Kabul, Afghanistan on June 20, 2016 and the attack at the Crocus City Hall, a popular concert venue complex near Moscow, Russia on March 22, 2024 that killed approximately 130 people and injured numerous others.

The criminal complaint details the Abbey Gate attack on the Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA) on August 26, 2021, when American and other Coalition military forces were conducting an evacuation operation at the airport as part of a larger operation to conclude US combat operations in Afghanistan.

The attacks came just days after the Taliban took over Kabul.

Abbey Gate was the main entry control point for the operation.

Thousands of civilians were at or near Abbey Gate on August 26 for evacuation processing. The attack was carried out by a lone suicide bomber, an ISIS-K member named Abdul Rahman al-Logari at Abbey Gate.

In the interview with FBI Special Agents, Sharifullah said that he was in prison in Afghanistan from approximately 2019 until approximately two weeks before the Kabul airport attack.

"Upon Sharifullah’s release, an ISIS-K member contacted Sharifullah to arrange for his assistance in an upcoming attack,” the complaint said.

ISIS-K members provided Sharifullah with a motorcycle, funds for a cell phone and a SIM card, and instructions to open an account on a particular social media platform to communicate with them during the attack operation.

"After making these preparations for the attack, Sharifullah was tasked with scouting a route near HKIA for an attacker. Sharifullah conducted surveillance on a route, specifically checking for law enforcement and American or Taliban checkpoints," the court documents said.

Sharifullah communicated to other ISIS-K members that he believed the route was clear and that he did not think the attacker would be detected while proceeding through that route, according to court documents.

"ISIS-K members then instructed Sharifullah to leave the area of HKIA. Later that same day, Sharifullah learned of the attack at HKIA described above and recognised the alleged bomber as an ISIS-K operative he had known while incarcerated," it said.

In his address, Trump said that “America is once again standing strong against the forces of radical Islamic terrorism."

Trump said three and a half years ago, ISIS terrorists killed 13 American service members and countless others in the Abbey Gate bombing during the "disastrous and incompetent withdrawal" from Afghanistan.

"Not that they were withdrawing, it was the way they withdrew. Perhaps the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country. Tonight, I am pleased to announce that we have just apprehended the top terrorist responsible for that atrocity and he is right now on his way here to face the swift sword of American justice," Trump said as members of the Republican Party broke into an applause and gave the President a standing ovation.

Trump described the day of the attack as a "horrible day", saying "Such incompetence was shown that when (Russian President Vladimir) Putin saw what happened, I guess he said, 'Wow, maybe this is my chance'. That's how bad it was. Should have never happened. Grossly incompetent people," Trump said.

Minutes after Trump made the announcement during his address in the US Capitol, FBI Director Kash Patel said in a post on X, "As President Trump just announced, I can report that tonight the FBI, DOJ, and CIA have extradited one of the terrorists responsible for the murder of the 13 American soldiers at Abbey Gate during the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal. One step closer to justice for these American heroes and their families."

During his address, Trump acknowledged Patel, voicing appreciation for his work.