The Japan Times - Accused IS militant to appear in US court over Kabul airport attack

The bomber detonated a device among packed crowds as they tried to flee Afghanistan, killing 170 Afghans and 13 US troops securing the perimeter, days after the Taliban seized control of the capital.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) said a member of the Islamic State Khorasan (ISK) branch in Afghanistan and Pakistan who had admitted to "helping prepare" for the attack would appear in court near the US capital Wednesday.

The man, named Mohammad Sharifullah, had told FBI agents that his help included "scouting a route near the airport for an attacker," the DOJ said.

ISK militants gave Sharifullah, also known as Jafar, a cellphone and a SIM card and told him to check the route, according to the affidavit in the case.

When he gave it the all clear they told him to leave the area, it said.

"Later that same day, Sharifullah learned of the attack at HKIA described above and recognized the alleged bomber as an ISIS-K operative he had known while incarcerated," the affidavit said, using an alternative acronym for the group.

Sharifullah has been charged with "providing and conspiring to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization resulting in death."

In his first address to Congress since returning to the White House, Trump announced on Tuesday that Pakistan had assisted in the arrest of "the top terrorist responsible for that atrocity."

He thanked Islamabad "for helping arrest this monster."

"This evil ISIS-K terrorist orchestrated the brutal murder of 13 heroic Marines," US Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.

Sharifullah also admitted to involvement in several other attacks, the DOJ said, including the March 2024 Moscow Crocus City Hall attack in which he said "he had shared instructions on how to use AK-style rifles and other weapons to would-be attackers" by video.

The United States withdrew its last troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, ending a chaotic evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans who had rushed to Kabul's airport in the hope of boarding a flight out of the country.

Images of crowds storming the airport, climbing atop aircraft -- and some clinging to a departing US military cargo plane as it rolled down the runway -- aired on news bulletins around the world.

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.

- 'Leverage US concerns' -

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Trump for acknowledging his country's role in counter-terrorism efforts in Afghanistan.

He promised to "continue to partner closely with the United States in securing regional peace and stability," in a post on X.

Pakistan's strategic importance has waned since the US and NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan, which has seen violence rebound in the border regions.

Tensions between the neighboring countries have soared, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of failing to root out militants sheltering on Afghan soil who launch attacks on Pakistan.

The Taliban government denies the charges and in a statement said Sharifullah's arrest "is proof" that ISK hideouts are on Pakistani soil.

ISK, which has claimed several recent attacks in Afghanistan, has staged a growing number of bloody international assaults, including killing more than 90 in an Iranian bombing last year.

Michael Kugelman, South Asia Institute director at The Wilson Center, said on X that Pakistan was trying to "leverage US concerns about terror in Afghanistan and pitch a renewed security partnership."

T.Sato--JT