Overview
- Mohammad Sharifullah was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, after a jury in April convicted him of conspiring to provide material support to ISIS‑K but could not agree that his conduct directly caused the Abbey Gate deaths.
- Prosecutors say Sharifullah spent nearly a decade in ISIS‑K’s operational network, providing surveillance, transporting suicide bombers, relaying communications and scouting a route to Hamid Karzai International Airport that they say was reported clear before the Aug. 26, 2021 Abbey Gate bombing.
- U.S. authorities say Pakistani forces arrested Sharifullah in March 2025 based on CIA information and transferred him to U.S. custody, an arrest that President Donald Trump publicly highlighted at the time.
- Defense lawyers argued Sharifullah was not an ISIS‑K leader and said the government failed to prove his role in the airport deaths beyond his statements to FBI agents, a line of defense tied to the jury’s deadlock and the defense’s request for a 17‑year term.
- Families of the 13 U.S. service members gave impact statements at sentencing, some saying the 20‑year term falls short of full accountability, and officials said the case highlights both sustained international counterterrorism cooperation and the legal limits of material‑support convictions compared with unanimous findings of direct responsibility.