Key suspect in Kabul airport bombing appears in US court after extradition

A key suspect in the deadly August 2021 suicide bombing at Kabul airport, arrested with the assistance of Pakistani authorities, appeared in a federal court in Virginia following his extradition to the United States.

Mohammad Sharifullah, identified by the Justice Department as an ISIS-K operative, made a brief court appearance Wednesday afternoon. He faces charges for allegedly orchestrating the Abbey Gate attack that killed 13 U.S. service members and 170 Afghan civilians.

The bombing at the airport occurred as Americans and their Afghan allies attempted to flee in the chaotic aftermath of the Taliban takeover.

At the hearing, Sharifullah spoke softly through an interpreter and acknowledged the charge against him, ABC News reported. He faces a federal charge of conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist organization, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

The magistrate judge scheduled a detention and preliminary hearing for Monday. Prosecutors said they would seek to keep him in custody pending trial.

The Justice Department has charged Sharifullah with "providing and conspiring to provide material support and resources" to IS-K.

"He confessed. This was the planner of that bombing," White House national security adviser Mike Waltz said in an interview with Fox News.

Pakistan launched operation to arrest

Sharifullah is now in U.S. custody, FBI Director Kash Patel said in a post on X, alongside a photo of agents standing in front of the plane that brought him to the United States.

Pakistan launched an operation along its Afghan border to capture Sharifullah, who Pakistani officials described as an Afghan national and a top commander of IS-K.

"We thank U.S. President Donald Trump for acknowledging and appreciating Pakistan's role and support in counterterrorism efforts," Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement.

A spokesman for the Taliban government in Afghanistan said the case was "unrelated to Afghanistan" and that the Taliban was also engaged in fighting ISIS.

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar spoke with U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz on Tuesday, according to a statement from Pakistan’s Foreign Office.

Dar "reiterated that Pakistan looked forward to building on its longstanding and broad-based relationship with the United States under President Trump and his administration," the statement said.

Thaw in relations

Relations between Islamabad and Washington have been strained in recent years over concerns about Pakistan’s alleged support for the Taliban in Afghanistan. Pakistan denies those allegations, but its ties with Washington have weakened while regional rival India has gained greater influence.

"This is a significant development in that U.S.-Pakistan ties have been in an unsettled state in the nearly four years since the U.S. exit from Afghanistan," said Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington.

Islamabad is using concerns over regional security and counterterrorism "to engage with Trump, who otherwise has no interest in Pakistan," said defense analyst Ayesha Siddiqa.

"For now, (the arrest) is just to signal to the United States that Pakistan is there and can be relied upon as a partner," she said.

Trump thanks Pakistan

Earlier, President Donald Trump thanked Pakistan for helping capture the man accused of planning the attack.

Trump said Sharifullah was extradited to the United States and made the announcement during his first address to Congress since taking office on Jan. 20.

"Three-and-a-half years ago, ISIS terrorists killed 13 American service members and countless others in the Abbey Gate bombing during the disastrous and incompetent withdrawal from Afghanistan," Trump said.

"Tonight, I am pleased to announce that we have just apprehended the top terrorist responsible for that atrocity, and he is right now on his way here to face the swift sword of American justice. And I want to thank especially the government of Pakistan for helping arrest this monster."

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Trump for "acknowledging and appreciating Pakistan's role and support in counterterrorism efforts across the region".

Sharif said on X that Sharifullah was an Afghan national and was apprehended in a "successful operation conducted in the Pakistan-Afghan border region".