Documents obtained by the Department of Justice show that the ISIS-K member revealed by President Donald Trump as the “top terrorist” responsible for the tragic Abbey Gate bombing at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 scouted the attack route and allegedly trained the gunmen involved in last year’s major terrorist attack in Russia.
The Justice Department announced on Wednesday that Mohammad Sharifullah had been arrested and charged with “providing and conspiring to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization resulting in death.”
“This evil ISIS-K terrorist orchestrated the brutal murder of 13 heroic service members,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel described the Abbey Gate bombing as an “act of terrorism, adding, “ISIS-K brazenly claimed responsibility for the carnage. Now thanks to the assistance of the FBI, Department of Justice, and the CIA, we have secured Sharifullah’s apprehension and transport to the U.S. to face American justice.”
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According to a Justice Department’s affidavit, Sharifullah told FBI special agents that he was in prison in Afghanistan from 2019 until roughly two weeks prior to the Abbey Gate bombing that left 13 U.S. service members dead.
“Sharifullah was tasked with scouting a route near Hamid Karzai International Airport for an attacker,” the affidavit stated. “Sharifullah conducted surveillance on a route, specifically checking for law enforcement and American or Taliban checkpoints.”
The Justice Department’s affidavit also claimed that Sharifullah was responsible for training the gunmen involved in last year’s terrorist attack in Moscow, which resulted in the death of roughly 130 individuals.
“Sharifullah received an order from a known ISIS-K senior leader to provide instructions on how to properly use AK-style rifles and other weapons to would-be attackers in Moscow,” the affidavit said. “Sharifullah shared video instructions with several individuals. Following the attack, Russian authorities arrested four gunmen in connection with the attack. Sharifullah recognized two of those individuals as the same people to whom he provided the firearms training video.”
During Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday, the president announced Sharifullah’s arrest, saying, “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.”
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Patel shared a picture of himself, Bondi, and other Trump administration officials awaiting Sharifullah’s arrival in the United States on Wednesday morning.
