Afghan man sentenced to 20 years in case tied to 2021 airport bombing that killed US troops

(CNN) — A federal judge handed down a 20-year sentence for the Afghan man convicted of providing material support to a terrorist organization during the August 2021 airport attack and bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, during the US military’s flawed departure.

Mohammad Sharifullah was convicted of providing support to an ISIS affiliate in April, though jurors could not agree on whether he bore responsibility for the attack that left 13 US service members and over 150 Afghans dead.

The Justice Department said in a press release Wednesday that Sharifullah acted as a scout for one path to the airport during the 2021 attack, where a terrorist would soon detonate a suicide-vest, killing the military members and Afghans.

Sharifullah, the department said, “participated in over a dozen ISIS-K attacks from 2016 through his eventual apprehension in 2025,” including by transporting suicide bombers, running communications and providing surveillance for the attacks.

He was detained by US officials in March of last year, after Pakistani forces, acting on CIA information, arrested Sharifullah. At the time, his arrest was touted by President Donald Trump, who had often criticized then-President Joe Biden for the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal and airport attack.

Sharifullah did not testify at his trial. At his sentencing, the judge said the defendant was a “dedicated terrorist” who expressed no remorse for the “unfathomable” grief and suffering that he had caused, the Associated Press reported.

Several parents of the US service members gave impact statements in court, describing how the attack has shattered their families, the AP reported.

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