The leader of ISIS accountable for the tragic Kabul suicide bombing, which resulted in the deaths of 183 individuals, has been apprehended. President Donald Trump cautioned that the culprit will be subjected to the justice system of the United States.
By callously detonating an explosive device amidst a frantic crowd attempting to escape Afghanistan, the attacker caused the deaths of 170 Afghans and 13 American soldiers, following closely after the takeover of the capital by the Taliban.
During his inaugural speech to Congress for his second term, Trump disclosed on Tuesday that Pakistan played a role in capturing the “chief terrorist” responsible for the horrendous events at the airport.
He added that the terrorist “is right now on his way here to face the swift sword of American justice”.
The Republican also took a swipe at his predecessor Joe Biden’s oversight of the “disastrous and incompetent withdrawal from Afghanistan”.
Trump thanked Pakistan “for helping arrest this monster” but gave no details of the suspect or the arrest operation.
Meanwhile Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the man the country’s security forces had arrested was Mohammad Sharifullah – a top commander for Islamic State Khorasan.
The United States withdrew its last troops from Afghanistan on the last day of August in 2021, ending a tumultuous evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans.
Citizens had rushed to Kabul’s airport in the hope of desperately boarding a flight out of the country after the Taliban brutally seized control of the capital.
Heartbreaking images of crowds storming the airport, climbing on top of planes and some clinging to departing aircraft were released worldwide.
In April 2023, the White House announced that an Islamic State official involved in plotting the attack at the airport’s Abbey Gate had been killed in an operation by Afghanistan’s new Taliban government.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Trump for “acknowledging and appreciating Pakistan’s role and support” in counter-terrorism efforts in Afghanistan.
He wrote on X: “We will continue to partner closely with the United States in securing regional peace and stability.”
Pakistan’s strategic importance has dwindled dramatically since the US and Nato withdrawal from Afghanistan – but militancy has rebounded in the border regions.
Pakistan city Islamabad accused capital Kabul of failing to root out militants sheltering on Afghan soil, which the evil Taliban government denies.
The regional chapter of the Islamic State group, known as the Islamic State Khorasan, has staged a growing number of bloody international attacks.
This includes heinously killing more than 140 people at a Moscow concert hall and over 90 in an Iranian bombing last year.
Michael Kugelman, South Asia Institute director at The Wilson Center, said on X that Pakistan was attempting to “leverage US concerns about terror in Afghanistan and pitch a renewed security partnership.”
He added: “Pakistan’s help catching the Abbey Gate attack plotter should be seen in this context.”
