Afghan man convicted of aiding ISIS-K in Kabul airport bombing

A federal jury convicted an Afghan man Wednesday of providing material support to ISIS-K in connection with the 2021 suicide bombing at Kabul's Abbey Gate that killed 173 people during the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, though jurors deadlocked on whether his role directly caused the deaths.

The verdict against Mohammad Sharifullah is the first U.S. criminal conviction tied to the Abbey Gate attack — one of the deadliest strikes against Americans since Sept. 11, 2001 — but the jury's deadlock on the deaths connection limits his maximum exposure to 20 years rather than life in prison.

The jury deliberated for eight hours over two days before finding Sharifullah guilty on one count of providing material support resulting in an attempt to murder U.S. nationals, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. Jurors could not unanimously agree on whether any deaths "resulted from" the conspiracy — a finding that would have exposed him to a potential life sentence.

The bombing struck Abbey Gate at Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug. 26, 2021, as tens of thousands of Afghans and foreign nationals scrambled to flee the Taliban's takeover. Abdul Rahman al-Logari, identified as the actual suicide bomber in a review by U.S. Central Command, detonated explosives in the crowd, killing 160 Afghan civilians and 13 U.S. service members.

"The defendant thought nothing of killing," Justice Department prosecutor Ryan White said in closing arguments, according to the report. "For him, it was just another day at the office." White also told jurors: "This case is not complicated. The defendant told you everything you need to know."

Defense attorney Lauren Rosen sharply contested the government's reliance on Sharifullah's own statements to FBI agents, arguing the accounts were unreliable. "The problem was, he didn't know much about what actually happened that day," Rosen said. "The government has told you nothing about how this attack actually happened." She cautioned jurors further: "You can't base your verdict on mere conjecture and speculation. That's what the prosecution is asking you to do."

Rosen argued that Sharifullah — held by Pakistani authorities before being transferred to U.S. custody — may have told FBI agents what he thought they wanted to hear out of fear of torture. She maintained there was no concrete physical evidence placing him at the center of the plot beyond his own admissions.

Sharifullah faces a maximum 20-year prison sentence; a sentencing date has not yet been set. ISIS-K also claimed the March 2024 attack on a Moscow concert hall that killed roughly 140 people, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. The prosecution's original lead attorney, Michael Ben'Ary, was removed from the case last year after right-wing critics attacked his work during the Biden administration.