ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — An alleged Islamic State group militant was convicted on Wednesday of a conspiracy charge in a deadly suicide bombing at a Kabul airport during the U.S. military’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
Mohammad Sharifullah faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years after his one-count conviction in an international terrorism case that President Donald Trump heralded last year during a speech to a joint session of Congress.
Sharifullah didn’t testify at his weeklong trial.
Approximately 160 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members were killed in the Aug. 26, 2021, attack at the airport, where U.S. troops were conducting an evacuation operation when a lone suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device near an entry point known as Abbey Gate.
A federal jury in Virginia convicted Sharifullah of providing material support to an Islamic State regional branch known as ISIS-K. But the jurors deadlocked on whether any deaths at the airport “resulted from” that conspiracy. Sharifullah could have faced a possible life sentence if the jury had unanimously decided that question.
Sharifullah didn't appear to have any visible reaction to the verdict. U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga didn't immediately set a date for Sharifullah's sentencing.
Defense attorney Lauren Rosen argued that prosecutors failed to present any evidence tying Sharifullah to the bombing besides his own words during hours of FBI questioning. Rosen said Sharifullah told FBI agents what he thought they wanted to hear, possibly because he was afraid of being tortured in Pakistani custody before he was brought to the U.S.
