US district court sentences Afghan man to 20 years for aiding ISIS, including role in Abbey Gate terror attack

Mohammad Sharifullah, an Afghan national, was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a U.S. district court for providing material support to ISIS-K over nearly a decade. The U.S. Justice Department stated that Sharifullah "spent nearly a decade at the heart of a horrific campaign of terror, providing critical support for attacks against civilians around the world."

• He was involved in the August 26, 2021, Abbey Gate attack at Hamid Karzai International Airport, where he scouted the route for Taliban checkpoints, leading to a suicide bombing that killed 13 U.S. service members and approximately 160 civilians.
• Sharifullah also assisted in a June 20, 2016, suicide bombing targeting Nepali guards at the Canadian embassy in Kabul by transporting the attacker.
• He trained ISIS-K gunmen in using AK-style rifles and communicated with them during an attack near Moscow on March 22, 2024, which killed over 100 civilians.
• His involvement included surveillance, transporting bombers, handling armaments, and recording propaganda videos for over a dozen ISIS-K attacks from 2016 until his apprehension in 2025.