Afghan militant sentenced to 20 years over Kabul, Crocus City Hall attacks

Afghan national Mohammad Sharifullah, a member of Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in the United States for providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organisation, the US Department of Justice said.

US authorities said Sharifullah had been involved in ISIS-K operations for nearly a decade, including surveillance, communications and logistical support for attacks.

“Sharifullah spent nearly a decade at the heart of a horrific campaign of terror, providing critical support for attacks against civilians around the world and, ultimately, contributed to the deaths of 13 U.S. servicemembers and dozens of others at Abbey Gate,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg.

According to court records, Sharifullah helped facilitate the 26 August 2021 suicide bombing at Abbey Gate at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, where US and other coalition forces were carrying out an evacuation operation. The attack killed 13 US service members and approximately 160 civilians.

Prosecutors said Sharifullah had surveilled a route to the airport and informed ISIS-K leaders that it was clear of Taliban checkpoints. The suicide bomber, Abdul Rahman al-Logari, had previously been imprisoned with Sharifullah.

Sharifullah was also accused of supporting a 2016 attack targeting Nepali security guards protecting the Canadian embassy in Kabul. Authorities said he conducted surveillance and transported the suicide bomber to the site.

In another case, US prosecutors said Sharifullah communicated with attackers involved in the March 2024 attack on Crocus City Hall near Moscow and provided instructions on using AK-style rifles and other weapons. More than 100 civilians were killed in the attack.

“Sharifullah, an ISIS-K operative, pledged allegiance to a doctrine of hate and contributed to more than a dozen terrorist attacks — including the Abbey Gate bombing that killed 13 U.S. service members and dozens of Afghan civilians,” said FBI Washington Field Office Assistant Director in Charge Darren Cox.

Sharifullah was apprehended in 2025. The FBI Washington Field Office investigated the case.

By Aghakazim Guliyev