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A man convicted of providing material support to the Islamic State terror group in connection with the deadly Abbey Gate bombing that killed 13 American service members during the Biden administration’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Mohammed Sharifullah, an alleged militant with ISIS-K, a regional branch of the terrorist group, was convicted in April of a conspiracy charge in a deadly 2021 suicide bombing at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
“Sharifullah spent nearly a decade at the heart of a horrific campaign of terror, providing critical support for attacks against civilians around the world and, ultimately, contributed to the deaths of 13 U.S. servicemembers and dozens of others at Abbey Gate,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg. “Today’s sentence holds him accountable for the blood on his hands. The United States will pursue, capture, and bring to justice anyone, anywhere in the world, who takes part in the killing of our servicemembers or citizens.”
During his trial, 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 agreed on that point.
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More than 160 Afghans and 13 U.S. military service members were killed on Aug. 26, 2021, at the airport, where U.S. troops were conducting evacuation operations when a lone suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device near Abbey Gate, an entry point.
The U.S. withdrawal was completed days later as the Taliban retook control of the country.
Mark Schmitz, the father of Marine Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, who was killed in the bombing, told Fox News that the 20-year sentence is “certainly not enough time for somebody who was involved in something as heinous as this.”
“The terrorist bombing took my son physically from me. They can never take his legacy as a human being,” he said.
U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said law enforcement remained “steadfast in pursuing” Sharifullah and bringing him to justice on American soil.
“Our hearts remain with the families who lost loved ones that day,” Blanche wrote on X. “No sentence can undo their unimaginable loss, but we hope today brings some measure of justice.”
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During interviews with the FBI, Sharifullah admitted that he surveilled a possible route for the suicide bomber to the Abbey Gate during the last days of the U.S. military’s presence in Afghanistan, according to evidence presented at trial.
“ISIS-K members provided Sharifullah with a motorcycle, funds for a cell phone and a SIM card, and instructions to open an account on a particular social media platform to communicate with them during the attack operation,” an affidavit cited Sharifullah as saying in an FBI interview.
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“After making these preparations for the attack, Sharifullah was tasked with scouting a route near Hamid Karzai International Airport for an attacker,” the affidavit said. “Sharifullah conducted surveillance on a route, specifically checking for law enforcement and American or Taliban checkpoints.”
Prosecutors also presented evidence of several other ISIS-K attacks in Afghanistan in which Sharifullah admitted involvement.
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President Donald Trump announced the capture of Sharifullah during a March 2025 address to a joint session of Congress.
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“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,” Trump said at the time to lawmakers.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
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