The terrorist accused of orchestrating the 2021 Abbey Gate bombing, which killed 13 U.S. military personnel and 160 civilians during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, arrived on American soil on Wednesday.
ISIS-K member Mohammad Sharifullah was extradited Tuesday night to “face American justice,” according to FBI Director Kash Patel.
“Three and a half years later, justice for our 13,” Patel wrote on X.
Sharifullah is charged with providing and conspiring to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, resulting in deaths. He was expected to make his first federal court appearance in Virginia on Wednesday.
Mohammad Sharifullah, the alleged mastermind behind the Abbey Gate bombing during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, is seen Wednesday after he was extradited back to the United States. (FBI Director Kash Patel)
President Donald Trump announced Sharifullah’s capture and extradition on Tuesday night during his address to a joint session of Congress.
“Three and a half years ago, ISIS terrorists killed 13 American service members and countless others in the Abbey Gate bombing,” Trump told lawmakers and a TV audience of millions.
“Tonight, 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.”
According to a Justice Department affidavit, Sharifullah confessed to scouting the attack route and training gunmen involved in a terrorist attack near Moscow last year.
Abbey Gate was the main entry point as American and coalition forces conducted an evacuation operation at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport.
TRUMP REVEALS TOP TERRORIST BEHIND ABBEY GATE ATTACK APPREHENDED
Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump stands alongside Misty Fuoco, whose sister Sgt. Nicole Gee died in the Abbey Gate bombing, at a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on August 26, 2024, in Arlington, Virginia. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
On Aug. 26, 2021, Abdul Rahman al-Logari, a member of the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham-Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), “detonated a body-worn suicide bomb at Abbey Gate, killing 13 U.S. military service members and approximately 160 civilians,” the Justice Department stated.
The U.S. withdrawal was completed a few days later, and the Taliban subsequently claimed control of Afghanistan.
FBI Special Agents interviewed Sharifullah this week, during which he revealed he had been imprisoned in Afghanistan from 2019 until approximately two weeks before the Abbey Gate attack, the Justice Department said.
“Upon Sharifullah’s release, an ISIS-K member contacted him to arrange for his assistance in an upcoming attack,” the affidavit cited Sharifullah as saying during the interview.
Taliban fighters man a checkpoint outside Abbey Gate on Aug. 25, 2021, the day before the bombing there. (Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images)
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“ISIS-K members provided Sharifullah with a motorcycle, funds for a cell phone and a SIM card, and instructions to open an account on a particular social media platform to communicate with them during the attack operation. After making these preparations for the attack, 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.”
Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman contributed to this report.
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