Updated

Updated · The New York Times · Sep 17

Mohammad Sharifullah Gets 20 Years in 2021 Kabul Attack Case as Jury Splits on Direct Blame

Updated

Updated · The New York Times · Sep 17

Mohammad Sharifullah Gets 20 Years in 2021 Kabul Attack Case as Jury Splits on Direct Blame

Q: What critical evidence fell short, preventing jurors from holding this ISIS-K militant fully accountable for the tragic Kabul deaths?

The key gap was proof of causation: prosecutors convinced jurors that Mohammed Sharifullah helped ISIS-K by scouting the bomber’s route, but they did not persuade all 12 jurors that the Kabul deaths legally “resulted from” his conspiracy. That distinction mattered. The trial evidence showed Sharifullah admitted to logistical support — checking routes and checkpoints, using equipment and communications arranged by ISIS-K, and helping the operation move forward. But he was not accused of being the suicide bomber, and jurors deadlocked on whether his role made him criminally responsible for the 13 U.S. service members and more than 160 Afghans killed in the blast. A major weakness flagged by the defense was that the case tying him to the Abbey Gate attack relied heavily on his own FBI statements. Defense lawyers argued prosecutors offered no stronger independent evidence directly linking him to the bombing itself beyond those admissions, and said he may have told agents what they wanted to hear out of fear after being held in Pakistani custody. So while the jury found enough evidence to convict him of providing material support to ISIS-K, it fell short of unanimously finding that his actions caused the deaths. That failure to prove the “resulted in death” element spared him a possible life sentence and led instead to a 20-year term.

Q: Why did the jury spare the Abbey Gate scout a life sentence despite his role in the devastating 2021 attack?

The jury spared Mohammed Sharifullah a life sentence because it did not unanimously find that the deaths in the Abbey Gate bombing legally “resulted from” his conspiracy. That distinction was crucial. Jurors did convict Sharifullah of providing material support to ISIS-K, based on evidence that he helped scout a route for the suicide bomber, checked for checkpoints, and used equipment and instructions supplied by the group. But under federal terrorism law, a life sentence depended on a separate finding that his conduct in the conspiracy directly led to the deaths. The jury could not reach agreement on that point. As a result, Sharifullah was sentenced only on the conspiracy and material-support conviction, which carried a lower maximum penalty. Judge Anthony Trenga then imposed 20 years, the maximum for the one-count conviction. The outcome reflects a legal difference between aiding a terrorist plot and being held criminally responsible for all of the killings it caused. Prosecutors argued that Sharifullah’s scouting role helped make the attack possible. Defense lawyers countered that he was not the bomber, was not an ISIS-K leader, and that the government had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he bore responsibility for the deaths themselves. In the end, the jury accepted that he supported ISIS-K’s operation, but not unanimously enough to trigger the harsher punishment tied to the mass fatalities at Abbey Gate.

3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 17

A Virginia judge sentenced Afghan defendant Mohammad Sharifullah to 20 years in prison after jurors convicted him of aiding ISIS-K but did not agree he was directly responsible for the 2021 Kabul airport bombing.
April's verdict found Sharifullah helped the suicide bomber reach Abbey Gate undetected, supporting the Islamic State Khorasan group that claimed the attack.
13 U.S. troops and more than 150 Afghans were killed when the bomber detonated in a crowd outside Hamid Karzai International Airport during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Pakistan arrested Sharifullah last year, and prosecutors cast the sentence as a measure of justice even though the mixed verdict stopped short of tying him directly to the deaths.