An alleged key figure in the deadly August 2021 suicide bombing targeting U.S. soldiers at Abbey Gate during the withdrawal from Afghanistan appeared in federal court in Virginia following his extradition to the U.S.
Mohammad Sharifullah, described by the Department of Justice as an ISIS-K operative, made a brief first appearance hearing Wednesday afternoon in Alexandria federal court on a charge for allegedly orchestrating the attack that killed 13 U.S. military servicemembers and approximately 160 civilians.
Sharifullah spoke softly as he answered a magistrate judge’s questions about whether he understood his constitutional rights. Through an interpreter, he acknowledged the federal charge he is facing — conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist group, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.
He was flanked by three U.S. Marshals during the hearing.
The magistrate judge ordered a detention and preliminary hearing for Monday. The government will be seeking his continued detention pending trial.
Mohammad Sharifullah seen being extradited to the United States, March 4, 2025.
FBI Director Kash Patel/X
Pakistani special forces recently captured Sharifullah along the Pakistani/Afghan border, according to a Pakistani intelligence official familiar with the operation.
During an interview with FBI agents on Sunday, Sharifullah allegedly admitted to his involvement in three major terror attacks, including the one at Abbey Gate, according to a criminal complaint.
Sharifullah allegedly assisted in planning the Abbey Gate operation, including conducting surveillance on a route for the attacker near the Hamid Karzai International Airport, according to the complaint.
Sharifullah also allegedly revealed he played a role in the suicide bombing targeting the U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, in June 2016 that killed 10 embassy guards and wounded other soldiers guarding the Canadian embassy, according to the complaint.
As part of his service to ISIS-K, Sharifullah allegedly conducted surveillance “so that he could prepare the suicide bomber and transport him to the target area” in Kabul, according to the complaint.
The bomber later used a “body worn improvised explosive device to conduct the attack,” the complaint stated.
Sharifullah also allegedly admitted to playing a role in an ISIS-K attack on a concert venue near Moscow in March 2024 that killed more than 130 people, according to the complaint.
The suspect was allegedly involved in more than 30 terror attacks, according to the Pakistani intelligence official.
He was in jail in Afghanistan from 2016 to 2021, according to the official.
It is believed that he was released by the Taliban in the waning days as the Afghan republic crumbled.