In a Virginia federal court, the U.S. Justice Department presented the alleged mastermind of the August 2021 bombing that claimed the lives of 13 U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.
The justice department expressed that Islamic State Khorasan operative Mohammad Sharifullah, aka “Jafar,” was indicted on March 2. He was charged with “providing and conspiring to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization resulting in death.”
President Donald Trump announced Sharifullah’s capture in an address to Congress on Capitol Hill. “Tonight, I am pleased to announce that we have just apprehended the top terrorist responsible for that atrocity,” Trump stated. “And he is right now on his way here to face the swift sword of American justice.”
The Abbey Gate bombing at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul occurred on August 26, 202. It killed around 170 Afghans. Islamic State Khorasan, claimed responsibility for the attack. The terrorist outfit is a U.S. designated foreign terrorist organization and also linked with the Islamic State terror group. The suicide attack came amid the chaotic troop withdrawal.
In this speech, Trump hailed Pakistan for helping with the mission to arrest Sharifullah.
“And I want to thank, especially, the government of Pakistan for helping arrest this monster,” the U.S. president stated.
Pakistan’s PM Shehbaz Sharif referred to Sharifullah as a “top tier commander” and an Afghan citizen in a post on X.
“The wanted terrorist was apprehended in a successful operation conducted in the Pakistan-Afghan border region,”
Sharif expressed.
The justice department stated the mission was a multi-agency measure that also concerned the CIA and the FBI.
“Sharifullah admitted to helping prepare for the Abbey Gate attack, including scouting a route near the airport for an attacker,”
the department stated.
Sharifullah confessed to recognizing Abdul Rahman al-Logari who blasted the suicide bomb and admitted to carrying out a role in other episodes in Afghanistan and Russia, the statement also said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt briefed media, Sharifullah was arrested late last month based on US intelligence and Pakistani officials examined him first. “US law enforcement officers travelled to Pakistan over the weekend, where he again confessed his crimes to the FBI.” The arrest signals Pakistan and the US are operating closely on some security problems.
“The arrest shows that counter-terrorism cooperation between Pakistan and the US remains robust even though relations are largely confined to a narrow bandwidth focused on counterterrorism,”
ex-Pakistani ambassador to UD, Maleeha Lodhi, said.
“This is the first major development between both countries since the Trump administration took office,”
Firdous added.
“It also exemplifies the dependence of both countries on each other when it comes to counterterrorism cooperation.”
