An Afghan national and member of the ISIS-K terrorist organization, the Afghanistan branch of ISIS, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Wednesday for his role in a 2021 terror attack that resulted in the deaths of 13 U.S. service members in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Mohammad Sharifullah was part of a nearly 10-year-long conspiracy to provide support and resources to ISIS-K, which contributed to the killings of American soldiers and dozens of civilians during a terrorist attack on the Abbey Gate of the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, according to a Department of Justice (DOJ) news release.
FBI Director Kash Patel said his agency will “never forget the disastrous” withdrawal from Afghanistan, which occurred under the Biden administration and led to the deadly suicide attack at Abbey Gate on Aug. 26, 2021.
“Any terrorist who kills our warriors will be hunted down by this and face the full weight of American justice,” Patel wrote in a post on X.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg said Sharifullah was “at the heart of a horrific campaign of terror” not just on Abbey Gate but also against civilians around the world.
According to the DOJ, Sharifullah was the key communicator in relaying information about the route to the Hamid Karzai International Airport to ISIS-K leadership on the day of the attack.
He conducted surveillance and even transported suicide bombers, DOJ officials said.
Sharifullah’s intel about the route being clear to the Afghan airport was shared with another ISIS-K operative, Abdul Rahman al-Logari, whom Sharifullah previously knew from time spent together in an Afghan prison and would soon detonate a body-worn suicide bomb at Abbey Gate.
Thirteen U.S. service members died in the blast, and about 160 civilians were also killed.
American forces, along with allied partners, were conducting a non-combatant evacuation operation at the Hamid Karzai Airport. Thousands of civilians were at Abbey Gate when the suicide bomber detonated the bomb.
“Today’s sentence holds him accountable for the blood on his hands,” Eisenberg said in the DOJ news release.
Sharifullah was involved in a separate terror attack on June 20, 2016, targeting Nepali security guards at the Canadian embassy in Kabul. The Afghan, like in the Abbey Gate attack, carried out surveillance prior to the incident and had transported the ISIS-K suicide bomber to the location, according to the DOJ.
On March 22, 2024, Sharifullah was involved in another ISIS-K terror attack on Crocus City Hall near Moscow. The Justice Department said he shared instructions on how to use AK-style rifles with the attackers and was in communication with them during the shooting. More than 100 civilians were killed.
In total, Sharifullah participated in more than a dozen ISIS-K terror attacks from 2016 until his apprehension in March 2025, acting as a scout, transporter for suicide bombers, cleaner for armaments, and communicator between ISIS-K personnel. He also recorded video of explosions for the terrorist group’s propaganda purposes, the DOJ news release said.
Attorney General Todd Blanche offered a statement on X about Sharifullah’s sentence, writing that although the Abbey Gate attack happened in Afghanistan, the DOJ and partners remained steadfast in pursuing him to bring him to face American justice.
“Our hearts remain with the families who lost loved ones that day,” Blanche said. “No sentence can undo their unimaginable loss, but we hope today brings some measure of justice.”
Sharifullah was found guilty on April 29 for his participation in ISIS-K.
Days after the attack on Abbey Gate in 2021, all 13 U.S. service members killed were identified.
They were Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza of Texas; Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee of California; Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover of Utah; Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss of Tennessee; Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez of California; Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola of California; Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum of Wyoming; Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui of California; Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan W. Page of Nebraska; Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosariopichardo of Massachusetts; Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez of Indiana; Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz of Missouri; and U.S. Navy Hospitalman Maxton W. Soviak of Ohio.
All of them were posthumously awarded on Sept. 10, 2024, Congressional Gold Medals, the nation’s oldest, highest congressionally issued honor.
Initially, the Pentagon reported in February 2022 that the deadly attack could not have been prevented. A later finding by a congressional investigator, working for the Republican House majority at the time, reported in August 2023 that it could have been prevented by the Biden administration.
Last month, the Pentagon upgraded valor awards for three U.S. Marines who withstood the Abbey Gate attack, recognizing them for their actions following the suicide-bomber detonating his body-worn explosive.
“There is no finer example of that raw, unyielding courage than what occurred when these three men and others they saved were pushed to the absolute limit,” War Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Aug. 26.
“When the threat materialized, these three Marines did not flinch.”
Months earlier, the Pentagon had similarly upgraded valor awards for seven other U.S. Marines who were manning the Abbey Gate entrance to the airport at the time of the terror attack.
“Their actions that day were heroic,” Assistant to the Secretary of Defense Sean Parnell said on April 22. “The original awards did not reflect that reality. Today’s upgrades correct that injustice.”
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