Afghan man tied to Kabul airport bombing sentenced to prison

A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced an Afghan man to 20 years in prison for aiding the terrorist organization that bombed an airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. The 2021 Abbey Gate Bombing killed more than 160 people, including 13 American soldiers, amid the U.S. military’s withdrawal from the region. Mohammad Sharifullah provided material support to Afghanistan’s ISIS affiliate group, the Department of Justice said in a new release. He helped plot dozens of attacks over nearly a decade, the DOJ said. But at his April conviction for supporting the terrorists, jurors could not agree on whether Sharifullah was directly responsible for the airport bombing five years ago.

Sharifullah was at the heart of a horrific campaign of terror, supporting attacks against civilians around the world, said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. The judge’s sentence holds Sharifullah accountable for the blood on his hands, Eisenberg added. Sharifullah received the maximum sentence for his one-count conviction.

What did Sharifullah do for the terrorist group? He planned the transportation of suicide bombers, ran communications, and provided surveillance for the attacks, the DOJ said. Before the 2021 airport bombing, he scouted ahead to ensure the suicide bomber had a clear route to the building, according to the DOJ. U.S. authorities took custody of Sharifullah last year after Pakistani authorities arrested him. He did not testify at his trial, according to the Associated Press.

Dig deeper: Listen to Cal Thomas for The World and Everything in It as he reports on how the attack devastated the families of the American soldiers.