ISIS-K Affiliate Sentenced to 20 Years for Role in 2021 Kabul Airport Bombing

ISIS-K member gets 20-year sentence linked to 2021 Kabul airport attack that killed 13 U.S. troops and 160 Afghans.

September 17, 2026 One Min Read

POLICY WIRE — Washington, D.C. — A senior member of the Islamic State affiliate ISIS-K has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in supporting the group, which claimed responsibility for a deadly suicide bombing at the Kabul airport in 2021 during the U.S. military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Mohammad Sharifullah, 28, was convicted in April by a federal jury in Virginia for providing material support to ISIS-K. However, jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict on whether he was directly responsible for the Aug. 26, 2021, attack that killed 13 U.S. service members and approximately 160 Afghan civilians. The attack occurred as U.S. forces were conducting an evacuation operation at Hamid Karzai International Airport.

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Prosecutors alleged that Sharifullah scouted a route to the airport ahead of the bombing, informing ISIS-K leaders that it was clear of Taliban checkpoints. He was captured in early 2025 near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border by Pakistani intelligence and the CIA before being extradited to the U.S. Sharifullah did not testify during his trial and showed no remorse for the casualties caused, according to U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga, who called him a ‘dedicated terrorist.’ Victim impact statements from families of the deceased were read during sentencing, with one parent stating, ‘A bomb killed my son. It did not kill what he stood for.’

Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)

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