A trial began Monday in Alexandria, Virginia, for Mohammad Sharifullah, an Afghan national accused of scouting the route a suicide bomber would take to the Kabul airport before a 2021 attack. The bombing, at Abbey Gate, killed approximately 160 Afghan civilians and 13 U.S. service members during the American military’s chaotic final withdrawal from Afghanistan. Sharifullah’s defense attorney told jurors that the U.S. government “got the wrong man,” saying his client gave a false confession.
The prosecution marks the first accountability measure directly tied to the Abbey Gate bombing in 2021, which claimed nearly 200 lives and became a political flashpoint during the conclusion of America’s longest war. The trial comes after the Justice Department dismissed a prosecutor assigned to the case following public criticism from a right-wing commentator.
Sharifullah is charged with one count of providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization resulting in death, a count that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Federal prosecutors say he scouted the bomber’s route to the airport and provided instructions on the proper use of firearms to ISIS-K members before other attacks.
Defense attorney Geremy Kamens dismissed those allegations during opening statements Monday, telling jurors that Sharifullah had no role in the bombing plot. Kamens suggested that his client gave a false confession under duress while in Pakistani custody, noting that Pakistani intelligence services engage in torture. The defense also suggested the bombing may have been an “inside job” aided by sympathetic Taliban extremists who were providing security at the airport on the day of the attack.
The Bombing and the Alleged Plotter
The alleged suicide bomber was Abdul Rahman al-Logari, an Islamic State militant whom Sharifullah had known while incarcerated, according to an FBI affidavit. U.S. Central Command concluded in its review that al-Logari carried out the bombing after the Taliban released him from an Afghan prison.
Sharifullah told federal agents that he joined ISIS-K around 2016. He denied involvement in the airport bombing but acknowledged doing “a lot of other things” for the group, according to prosecutor John Gibbs. Sharifullah told a journalist he wanted to kill American “crusaders” who had invaded Afghanistan following September 11, Gibbs said.
Sharifullah also faces accusations that he provided firearms instruction to ISIS-K members involved in a March 2024 attack on a Moscow concert hall that killed approximately 140 people.
The jury—12 jurors and three alternates—was seated Monday for what prosecutors expect will be a week-long trial. Sharifullah was brought to the United States in March 2025 after his capture.
Trump’s Political Use of the Case
Trump announced the capture during his March 2025 State of the Union address. During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly criticized Biden’s handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal and blamed the president for the Abbey Gate attack.
Questions About Prevention and Prosecution
A former Marine testified to Congress that he and others had spotted two suspicious individuals on the morning of the attack but lacked permission to act. Yet U.S. Central Command concluded that the individuals were not the actual bomber and that the attack could not have been prevented.
The Justice Department dismissed a prosecutor from the Abbey Gate case after he faced public criticism from a right-wing commentator for work performed during the Biden administration. The firing was part of a broader removal of Justice Department career staff deemed insufficiently loyal to the incoming Trump administration, according to reports at the time.
Human review: not_triggered.