Suspect in Kabul bombing during Afghanistan pullout appears in US court

Mohammad Sharifullah was taken into custody at the weekend and admitted during interrogation to being a member of ISIS

Family members of the 13 US service members killed in the Abbey Gate blast in Kabul attend a Gold Medal ceremony in the US Capitol in September 2024 EPA

A suspected senior planner in the suicide bombing at Kabul airport, which killed 13 American service members and about 170 Afghan civilians during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, appeared in in Virginia Federal Court on Wednesday to face charges.

Mohammad Sharifullah was taken into custody at the weekend and admitted during an FBI interrogation to being a member of ISIS-Khorasan, the ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan, and to his role in the August 2021 suicide bombing and other attacks, US officials said.

During his court hearing, he appeared in a jail jumpsuit and listened through headphones as an interpreter translated the proceedings. His public defender declined to comment after his court appearance, which ended with him being held until at least a detention hearing set for Monday.

President Donald Trump announced Mr Sharifullah'a arrest during his Tuesday night address to Congress, saying Mr Sharifullah would face the "swift sword of American justice".

Senior Pakistani intelligence officers on Wednesday confirmed the arrest to AP and said Mr Sharifullah had been captured in the country's restive south-west Balochistan province, near the border with Afghanistan, after several operations had failed to result in his detention.

Mr Sharifullah is charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organisation, resulting in death. He was expected to face a judge on Wednesday and be assigned a lawyer to speak on his behalf. More charges are possible as the case moves through the court system.

During his FBI interrogation, Mr Sharifullah also said he had shared firearms and weapons instructions before a March 2024 attack in Moscow that was also carried out by ISIS-K, authorities said.

The Abbey Gate bombing occurred during an air evacuation for those fleeing the Taliban takeover of the country. The attack led to widespread congressional criticism and undermined public confidence in former president Joe Biden’s administration.

According to prosecutors, Mr Sharifullah was given a motorcycle, funds for a cell phone and a SIM card, as well as instructions for communicating via social media during the attack operation. He admitted to participating in the Abbey Gate attack by scouting a route to the airport for the bomber and communicating to other members of the militant group that the path was clear.

Mr Sharifullah was arrested in 2019 by the US-backed Afghan government at the time but escaped from prison on August 15, 2021, as the Taliban took Kabul. The Pakistani officials said he had planned the bombing from behind bars with other senior militant figures.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Mr Trump for “acknowledging and appreciating” the country’s role in counter-terrorism efforts in Afghanistan and said on X that Islamabad would "continue to partner closely with the United States in securing regional peace and stability".

Mr Sharif described Mr Sharifullah as a top commander in ISIS-K.

A US official told Reuters that Mr Sharifullah's arrest came with new intelligence community co-ordination, increased sharing of intelligence and pressure on regional partners to bring those responsible for the attack to account after Mr Trump was sworn in on January 20.

"On his first day in office, President Trump's national security team across the federal government prioritised intelligence gathering to locate this evil individual," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a briefing. She said Mr Sharifullah was delivered to authorities at a Dallas airfield earlier on Wednesday.