A federal jury in Virginia convicted an Afghan national of providing material support to the Islamic State’s Afghanistan affiliate, ISIS-K, in connection with multiple terrorist attacks, including the 2021 bombing outside Kabul’s airport that killed 13 U.S. service members and about 160 Afghan civilians, the U.S. Department of Justice stated on Wednesday.
Mohammad Sharifullah was found guilty of participating in a years-long conspiracy to support ISIS-K. However, jurors did not reach a verdict on whether his actions directly resulted in the deaths in the airport attack during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, AP reported.
Prosecutors said Sharifullah conducted surveillance ahead of the bombing at the Abbey Gate of the Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug. 26, 2021, confirming that a route to the gate was clear of Taliban checkpoints before a suicide bomber, identified as Abdul Rahman al-Logari, detonated explosives.
Authorities said he conducted similar surveillance before a 2016 bombing targeting guards at the Canadian embassy in Kabul, saying he scouted the route and transported the attacker. Sharifullah also taught ISIS-K gunmen involved in the 2024 Crocus City Hall attack near Moscow how to use “AK-style rifles and other weapons,” according to prosecutors.
“In all, Sharifullah participated in over a dozen additional ISIS-K attacks from 2016 through his eventual apprehension in 2025,” the Justice Department stated.
He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
