Alexandria, Virginia– An alleged Islamic State militant was convicted Wednesday of conspiracy to murder Suicide bombing at Kabul airport During the US Army The chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan In 2021.
Muhammad Sharifullah faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years after being found guilty of one count in the international terrorism case announced by President Donald Trump last year during a speech to a joint session of Congress. Sharif Allah did not testify in his week-long trial.
Nearly 160 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members were killed in the Aug. 26, 2021, attack on the airport, where U.S. forces were conducting an evacuation when a lone suicide attacker detonated an improvised explosive device near an entry point known as Abbey Gate.
A federal jury in Virginia convicted Sharifullah of providing material support to a regional affiliate of the Islamic State known as ISIS-K. But jurors were deadlocked on whether any deaths at the airport “caused” that plot. Sharifullah could have faced a possible life sentence if the jury had unanimously decided that question.
Sharif Allah did not appear to have any clear reaction to the ruling. U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga did not immediately set a date for Sharif Allah’s sentencing.
The jury deliberated for approximately eight hours over two days. In a note to the judge, jurors noted that they quickly reached a unanimous decision to convict Sharifullah of conspiracy, but were unable to agree on the element that would have significantly increased the severity of his sentence. The judge rejected the prosecutor’s request to give them more time to deliberate.
Defense attorney Lauren Rosen said prosecutors failed to present any evidence linking Sharifullah to the bombing besides his words during hours of FBI questioning. Sharifullah told FBI agents what he thought they wanted to hear, perhaps because he feared being tortured in Pakistani custody before being transferred to the United States, Rosen said.
“The problem is he didn’t know much about what actually happened that day,” Rosen told jurors during the trial’s closing arguments. “The government hasn’t told you anything about how this attack actually happened.”
Justice Department Prosecutor Ryan White said Sharifullah played a critical role in planning the Abbeygate bombing and participated in numerous other attacks by ISIS-K, including ISIS. March 2024 attack on the Moscow Concert Hall Which killed nearly 140 people.
“The defendant did not think about killing,” White said. “For him, it was just another day at the office.”
A Review by US Central Command It found that the Abbey Gate bomber was Abdul Rahman Al-Lughari, an ISIS fighter who was released by the Taliban from an Afghan prison. Sharifullah identified the alleged bomber as an agent he knew while in prison, according to the British Daily Mail. FBI affidavit.
Former marine He testified before Congress He and others spotted two potential suspects acting suspiciously on the morning of the bombing but did not obtain permission to act. However, the Central Command review concluded that the snipers did not see the actual bomber and that the attack could not have been prevented.
The prosecutor assigned to the Abbygate case was Hu Launched last year After a right-wing commentator publicly criticized him for his work during President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration. The ouster of Michael Ben Ari was part of a broader purge of Justice Department veterans deemed insufficiently loyal to Trump, a Republican.
During his recent presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly condemned Biden for his role in the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and blamed him for the Abbeygate attack.
It was the White House under Biden After committing to withdraw and the timeline the first Trump administration negotiated with the Taliban in 2020. A 2022 review by a government-appointed special investigator concluded that decisions made by both Trump and Biden were the main factors that led to the rapid collapse of the Afghan military and the Taliban’s seizure of power.
White, the prosecutor, said Sharif Allah told a journalist that he wanted to “capture and kill the Crusaders” from the United States for invading his country after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
“This case is not complicated,” White said. “The defendant has told you everything you need to know.”
Rosen said that the US authorities accepted ISIS propaganda at face value when the group claimed responsibility for the airport bombing. She indicated that gunmen from the Taliban branch were guarding Abbey Gate and may have been involved in the attack.
“You can’t base your judgment on guesswork and speculation,” Rosen said. “That’s what the prosecution is asking you to do.”