ISIS-K Member Sentenced to 20 Years in US Over Material Support
DID Press: Mohammad Sharifullah, a member of the Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K), has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in the United States for providing material support and resources to the group, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Sharifullah, 28, was convicted by a federal jury in Virginia in April of participating in a conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS-K. However, jurors did not reach a verdict on whether his actions directly contributed to the deaths in the Aug. 26, 2021, Abbey Gate bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport.
The bombing occurred during the U.S.-led evacuation from Afghanistan. A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device near Abbey Gate, killing 13 U.S. service members and about 160 Afghan civilians, according to U.S. and Associated Press reporting. ISIS-K claimed responsibility for the attack.
According to U.S. prosecutors and court evidence, ISIS-K leadership tasked Sharifullah with surveilling a road leading to the airport to ensure it was clear of Taliban checkpoints. The Justice Department also said he participated in more than a dozen other ISIS-K attacks between 2016 and his arrest in 2025, carrying out activities including surveillance, transporting suicide bombers and weapons, relaying communications, and recording explosions for propaganda.
Sharifullah was arrested in 2025 near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in an operation involving Pakistani and U.S. intelligence personnel before being transferred to the United States.
His defense attorneys disputed his direct involvement in the Abbey Gate bombing, arguing that prosecutors had not presented sufficient evidence linking him directly to the bombing. They also challenged statements he made during FBI interrogations, arguing that they were obtained under pressure.
Judge Anthony J. Trenga sentenced Sharifullah to the maximum 20-year prison term for the charge on which he was convicted. The jury’s inability to establish his direct responsibility for the deaths in the bombing meant he was not sentenced for causing those deaths.