A photo of the suspected terrorist has been released by Virginia law enforcement. The Justice Department claims that this individual admitted to scouting the route for the 2021 Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan, an attack that claimed the lives of 13 service members.
Mohammad Sharifullah, a member of ISIS-K, appeared in a federal court in Virginia for the first time on Wednesday. He faces charges of providing support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, which resulted in fatalities.
He wore a light-blue jail jumpsuit and listened through headphones as an interpreter translated the proceedings, according to the Associated Press.
Following his court appearance, where he was ordered to be detained until a hearing scheduled for Monday, Sharifullah’s defense attorney chose not to provide any comments.
Mohammed Sharifullah, who was allegedly involved in the planning for the Abbey Gate bombing that killed 13 American service members during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, is shown after being extradited to the U.S. (FBI Director Kash Patel)
During the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021, American and coalition forces were conducting an evacuation operation at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport.
Abbey Gate was the main entry point for the operation, and thousands of civilians were in the area on Aug. 26, 2021, according to the Justice Department.
Around 5:36 p.m. that day, Abdul Rahman al-Logari – a member of the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham-Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), “detonated a body-worn suicide bomb at Abbey Gate, killing 13 U.S. military service members and approximately 160 civilians,” the Justice Department said.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, left, FBI Director Kash Patel, center, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, center right, are seen on Wednesday, March 5, awaiting Mohammed Sharifullah’s arrival to the U.S. following his arrest overseas. (Justice Department)
Sharifullah confessed to scouting the attack route and training gunmen involved in a terrorist attack near Moscow last year, according to a Justice Department affidavit released this week.
Fox News’ Louis Casiano and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
