By ERIC TUCKER and ZEKE MILLER, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — A suspected senior planner in the suicide bombing at the Kabul airport that killed 13 American service members during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan has been taken into custody and is being brought to the United States to face charges, President Donald Trump announced Tuesday night.
“I am 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,” Trump said in a joint address to Congress.
The White House identified the man as Muhammed Sharifullah and described him as having “orchestrated the Abbey Gate attack.” FBI Director Kash Patel, who attended Trump’s address, posted on the social media platform X that the arrest was “one step closer to justice for these American heroes and their families.”
A senior U.S. official said Sharifullah, known as Jafar, was arrested late last month on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan by Pakistani officials. U.S. law enforcement, including the FBI, interrogated Sharifullah over the weekend and he confessed to his role in the 2021 Abbey Gate attack, the official said, as well as a March 2024 ISIS-K attack in Moscow and several attacks inside Iran.
It was not immediately clear what charges Sharifullah would face. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the case against Sharifullah before it was unveiled, said charging documents would be unsealed Wednesday. He was in transit to the U.S. while Trump was speaking late Tuesday.
The Justice Department did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
The Abbey Gate bombing during the final days of the Afghanistan withdrawal killed 13 U.S. service members and 170 Afghans, while wounding scores more. It triggered widespread congressional criticism and undermined public confidence in Biden’s administration.
A review last year by U.S. Central Command concluded that the suicide bombing was not preventable. The U.S. military has previously identified the bomber as Abdul Rahman al-Logari, an Islamic State militant who had been in an Afghan prison but was released by the Taliban as the group took control of the country that summer.
Trump had repeatedly condemned Biden’s role in the Afghanistan withdrawal on the campaign trail and blamed Biden for the Abbey Gate attack. The official 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.
