Arabic version: الحكم على عضو في تنظيم الدولة بالسجن 20 عاماً لدوره في هجوم مطار كابول
According to The Guardian, Mohammad Sharifullah, 28, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for providing material support to Islamic State Khorasan Province, the IS affiliate that took credit for the 2021 suicide bombing at Kabul airport.
A federal jury in Virginia convicted Sharifullah in April on one count of providing material support to ISKP. Jurors did not reach agreement on whether deaths from the 26 August 2021 bombing resulted from the conspiracy, a finding that could have exposed him to a possible life sentence.
US troops were carrying out an evacuation at Hamid Karzai international airport when a suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device near Abbey Gate. The attack killed 13 US service members and about 160 Afghans. Prosecutors said Sharifullah had scouted a route to the airport.
US district judge Anthony Trenga imposed the maximum sentence after hearing statements from relatives of service members killed in the attack. Trenga described Sharifullah as a “dedicated terrorist” who showed no remorse for the grief and suffering caused.
Sharifullah sought a 17-year sentence, while prosecutors requested 20 years. His lawyers said he was not an ISKP leader and had not been convicted of conduct tied directly to the airport bombing, arguing prosecutors had offered no evidence beyond statements he made during FBI questioning. US Central Command identified the Abbey Gate bomber as Abdul Rahman al-Logari, an IS member released from an Afghan prison by the Taliban.
