ALEXANDRIA — Mohammad Sharifullah was sentenced to 20 years in prison on August 26, 2026, in U.S. District Court in Alexandria. The sentence followed his conviction for providing material support to ISIS-K, a branch of the Islamic State operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga imposed the term, which represents the maximum penalty for the one-count conviction. A federal jury convicted Sharifullah in April after finding he provided material support to the terrorist organization.

The 28-year-old defendant did not testify at his trial and declined to address the court before sentencing. Prosecutors sought a 20-year prison sentence, while Sharifullah requested a 17-year prison sentence.

Judge Trenga stated that Sharifullah expressed no remorse for the grief and suffering he caused during the proceedings. The judge described Sharifullah as a "dedicated terrorist" who facilitated violence against civilians.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg issued a statement regarding the sentencing outcome. "Sharifullah spent nearly a decade at the heart of a horrific campaign of terror, providing critical support for attacks against civilians around the world and, ultimately, contributed to the deaths of 13 U.S. servicemembers and dozens of others at Abbey Gate," John Eisenberg said.

Defense attorneys argued that the government failed to prove Sharifullah participated in the Abbey Gate attack at trial. They stated that Sharifullah was never an ISIS-K leader and has not been convicted of any conduct related to the airport suicide bombing. "He was brought here because the government believed he participated in the Abbey Gate attack, a theory which it was unable to prove at trial," defense attorneys wrote. Jurors did not reach a unanimous decision on whether deaths at the Kabul airport resulted from the conspiracy.

Sharifullah could have faced a possible life sentence if the jury had unanimously decided that deaths resulted from the conspiracy. The lack of unanimity on that specific element limited the statutory maximum to 20 years.

Victims' families addressed the court during impact statements following the conviction. Mark Schmitz spoke about his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, who died in the attack.

"They may have taken his life, but they'll never take his legacy," Mark Schmitz said. He added that a bomb killed his son but did not kill what he stood for.

The suicide bombing at Kabul airport on Aug. 26, 2021, killed about 160 Afghans. ISIS-K took credit for the suicide bombing at Kabul airport.

Defense lawyers argued that prosecutors failed to present evidence tying Sharifullah to the Kabul bombing besides his own words during FBI questioning. They stated that Sharifullah told FBI agents what he thought they wanted to hear, possibly due to fear of torture in Pakistani custody.

Defense lawyers stated that Sharifullah was a "conduit for messages passed between different actors in the organization." Prosecutors stated that Sharifullah aided in dozens of other attacks, including a March 2024 assault on a Moscow concert hall.

The Justice Department stated that Sharifullah's role in ISIS-K attacks included providing surveillance, transporting suicide bombers or weapons, and communicating with attackers. Prosecutors stated that Sharifullah told a journalist he wanted to "catch and kill the crusaders" from the United States.

Sharifullah was captured in early 2025 by Pakistani intelligence and the CIA near Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. He was subsequently extradited to the United States to face charges.

FBI Director Kash Patel posted a photo of Sharifullah in FBI custody to social media on March 5, 2025. President Trump heralded the case during a speech to a joint session of Congress last year.

Timeline

In 2016, prosecutors stated that Sharifullah aided in a suicide bombing that targeted security guards at the Canadian embassy in Kabul. On August 26, 2021, ISIS-K took credit for the suicide bombing at Kabul airport, which occurred near an entry point known as Abbey Gate at Hamid Karzai International Airport.

On that same date in 2021, prosecutors stated that Sharifullah surveilled a route to the airport to watch for Taliban checkpoints ahead of the bombing. The Justice Department stated that Sharifullah communicated to ISIS-K leadership that the route to the airport was clear, and that an ISIS-K operative named Abdul Rahman al-Logari detonated the suicide bomb hours after Sharifullah reported the route was clear. The suicide bombing at Kabul airport on Aug.

26, 2021, killed about 160 Afghans. In March 2024, an assault on a Moscow concert hall killed roughly 140 people.

What's New

A review by U.S. Central Command found that the Abbey Gate bomber was Abdul Rahman al-Logari. Abdul Rahman al-Logari was an IS member who had been released from an Afghan prison by the Taliban.

An FBI affidavit stated that Sharifullah recognized Abdul Rahman al-Logari as an operative he had known while incarcerated. ISIS-K is branch of the Islamic State operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Why It Matters

The sentencing concludes a high-profile prosecution involving allegations of support for global terror attacks, including the deadly 2021 bombing at Kabul airport. The case drew attention from the highest levels of government, with President Trump heralding the case during a speech to a joint session of Congress last year.

The conviction rests on charges of providing material support rather than direct participation in the bombing itself, as jurors did not unanimously agree that Sharifullah's actions caused the deaths at Abbey Gate. This distinction limited the penalty to 20 years, the maximum for the count of conviction, despite the scale of the casualties involved in the attacks prosecutors linked to him.