Virginia Jury Convicts Sharifullah of ISIS-K Support in Kabul Bombing

A federal jury in Virginia convicted Mohammad Sharifullah, an alleged Islamic State militant, of conspiring to provide material support to the group's regional branch, ISIS-Khorasan, in connection with a suicide bombing at Kabul's international airport on August 26, 2021. The attack, which occurred amid the U.S. military's evacuation operation during the withdrawal from Afghanistan, killed approximately 160 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members when a bomber detonated an improvised explosive device near the Abbey Gate entry point.

The weeklong trial ended Wednesday with jurors deadlocking on whether the conspiracy directly resulted in any deaths at the airport, sparing Sharifullah a possible life sentence. He now faces a maximum of 20 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga did not immediately schedule sentencing, and Sharifullah showed no visible reaction to the one-count verdict. He did not testify during the proceedings.

Prosecutors argued that Sharifullah played a key role in planning the Abbey Gate bombing and participated in other ISIS-K attacks, including the March 2024 assault on a Moscow concert hall that killed about 140 people. "The defendant thought nothing...