By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Pew PatriotsPew PatriotsPew Patriots
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
  • Home
  • News
  • Tactical
  • Guns and Gear
  • Prepping & Survival
  • Videos
Reading: Suspected Abbey Gate bombing planner in custody, Trump says
Share
Font ResizerAa
Pew PatriotsPew Patriots
  • News
  • Tactical
  • Guns and Gear
  • Prepping & Survival
  • Videos
Search
  • Home
  • News
  • Tactical
  • Guns and Gear
  • Prepping & Survival
  • Videos
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
Suspected Abbey Gate bombing planner in custody, Trump says
Tactical

Suspected Abbey Gate bombing planner in custody, Trump says

Jimmie Dempsey
Last updated: March 5, 2025 1:47 pm
Jimmie Dempsey Published March 5, 2025
Share
SHARE

A suspected senior planner in the suicide bombing at the Kabul airport that killed 13 American service members during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan has been taken into custody and will appear Wednesday in federal court in the United States to face charges.

President Donald Trump announced the arrest during his Tuesday night address to Congress, with the White House and the Justice Department subsequently identifying the suspect as Mohammad Sharifullah. Officials accuse him of being a member of the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate, known as ISIS-Khorasan, or ISIS-K, and say he admitted his role in that attack and others during an interview with FBI agents on Sunday after being taken into custody.

Senior Pakistani intelligence officers on Wednesday confirmed the arrest and said Sharifullah, also known as Jafar, was captured in the country’s restive southwest Balochistan province near the border with Afghanistan after multiple operations had failed to seize him.

The officers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, said Sharifullah had joined the militant group in 2016 and was involved in numerous attacks across Afghanistan.

Sharifullah is charged in federal court in Virginia with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, resulting in death. He will face a judge on Wednesday and be assigned a lawyer to speak on his behalf. Additional charges are possible as the case moves through the court system.

Trump, in his address to Congress, said he was “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.”

The Abbey Gate bombing, in the waning days of an airlift for those fleeing the Taliban takeover of the country amid the withdrawal by U.S. forces from the country, occurred in August 2021 when a suicide bomber attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul’s airport. Besides 13 U.S. service members, about 170 Afghans were also killed in the attack, which triggered widespread congressional criticism and undermined public confidence in President Joe Biden’s administration.

According to an FBI affidavit filed as part of the case, Sharifullah admitted under questioning to having joined ISIS-K in 2016 and to having participated in the Abbey Gate bombing by scouting a route to the airport for the bomber and communicating to other members of the militant group that the path was clear. The bomber was later identified as Abdul Rahman al-Logari, an Islamic State group militant who had been in an Afghan prison but was released by the Taliban as the group took control of the country that summer.

During his FBI interrogation, Sharifullah also said he had shared firearms and weapons instructions before a March 2024 attack in Moscow that was also carried out by ISIS-K, authorities said.

Sharifullah was arrested in 2019 by the U.S.-backed Afghan government at the time but escaped from prison on Aug. 15, 2021, as the Taliban took Kabul.

The Pakistani officials said Sharifullah had planned the bombing from behind bars with other senior militant figures. They said he remained on the run in the border areas of Balochistan until his arrest through a joint intelligence-sharing operation between Pakistan and the U.S.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Trump for “acknowledging and appreciating” the country’s role in counter terrorism efforts in Afghanistan.

“We will continue to partner closely with the United States in securing regional peace and stability,” Sharif said on the social platform X.

From Kabul, the Taliban chief spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid declined to comment beyond saying that the arrest “on Pakistani soil” of an Afghan national and member of the Islamic State group shows that IS group figures “have taken refuge and established havens” inside Pakistan.

“This issue has nothing to do with Afghanistan,” Mujahid said. The regional Islamic State affiliate is a rival group to the Afghan Taliban.

Trump had repeatedly condemned Biden’s role in the Afghanistan withdrawal on the campaign trail and blamed Biden for the Abbey Gate attack.

A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity Tuesday night to discuss a case that had yet to be unsealed, said Sharifullah’s arrest came after fresh U.S. intelligence community coordination, increased intelligence sharing and pressure on regional partners to bring those responsible for the attack to account since Trump’s swearing-in in January.

Read the full article here

You Might Also Like

First Look: Falco TalonGuard Holsters

Navy relieves CO of Navy Information Operations Command Colorado

First Shots: Ruger RXM Pistol

Everything troops and families need to know about filing taxes in 2025

China’s shipbuilding dominance a national security risk for US: Report

Share This Article
Facebook Twitter Email Print
Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

We Recommend
Veteran advocacy leader defends Trump’s shake-ups at VA, calls for reform to support veterans
News

Veteran advocacy leader defends Trump’s shake-ups at VA, calls for reform to support veterans

Jimmie Dempsey Jimmie Dempsey May 9, 2025
The Classics: Colt New Model Army Revolver of 1860
Felon hid dead uncle in trash can to keep stealing his vets benefits
Hands-On with the Dead Air Sandman S
Pakistan Says It Killed Up To 50 Indian Soldiers In Fresh Border Clashes
Psaki bombs: MSNBC’s newest primetime program sheds 53% of viewers from key demo in second episode
Newsom debuts rapid-response website as critics accuse him of prioritizing presidential ambitions
News

Newsom debuts rapid-response website as critics accuse him of prioritizing presidential ambitions

Jimmie Dempsey Jimmie Dempsey May 9, 2025
Jemele Hill returns to ESPN’s ‘Around the Horn’ before show’s cancellation, jokes about previous firing
News

Jemele Hill returns to ESPN’s ‘Around the Horn’ before show’s cancellation, jokes about previous firing

Jimmie Dempsey Jimmie Dempsey May 9, 2025
USA Fencing transgender controversy escalates at DOGE hearing with social media regrets, calls for resignation
News

USA Fencing transgender controversy escalates at DOGE hearing with social media regrets, calls for resignation

Jimmie Dempsey Jimmie Dempsey May 9, 2025
Pew Patriots
  • News
  • Tactical
  • Prepping & Survival
  • Guns and Gear
  • Videos
  • Blog
2024 © Pew Patriots. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?