Published on 4/30/2026
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Last update: 09:55 (Mecca time)
On Wednesday, an American jury convicted an Afghan citizen of conspiracy and providing material support in connection with a deadly suicide bombing that occurred at Kabul airport during the US military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, resulting in the deaths of 13 American soldiers and 160 Afghan civilians.
Muhammad Sharif Allah faces a maximum prison sentence of up to 20 years, after being convicted of one charge in a case related to international terrorism, a case in which US President Donald Trump praised last year during a speech before a joint session of both houses of Congress. Sharif Allah did not testify during his trial, which lasted a week.
About 160 Afghans and 13 American soldiers were killed in the attack that occurred on August 26, 2021 at the airport during an evacuation operation carried out by American forces, when a suicide bomber blew himself up near an entry point known as “Abbey Gate.”
A federal jury in Virginia convicted Sharifullah on charges of providing material support to a regional branch of the Islamic State known as ISIS-K.
Prosecutors said Sharifullah assisted ISIS’s affiliate in Afghanistan (ISIS-K) by conducting reconnaissance operations and facilitating communications before the attack. Defense lawyers countered that the government relied too heavily on Sharifullah’s own statements during FBI interrogations and failed to independently prove his role in the bombing.
The jury failed to reach a decision on whether any of those victims were killed as a result of the conspiracy.
Sharif Allah could have faced a life sentence if the panel had reached a unanimous decision on the matter.
Sharif Allah did not express any apparent response to the ruling. US District Court Judge Anthony Trenga did not immediately set a date for his sentencing.
Absence of physical evidence
Defense lawyer Lauren Rosen argued that the prosecution failed to provide any evidence linking Sharif Allah to the bombing other than his own statements during his hours of interrogation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Rosen said Sharifullah told the FBI agents what he thought they wanted to hear, perhaps out of fear that he would be tortured while detained in Pakistan before being transferred to the United States.
“The problem is that he didn’t know much about what actually happened that day,” Rosen told jurors during the trial’s closing arguments. “And the government hasn’t given you anything that explains how this attack actually happened.”
The prosecutor representing the US Department of Justice, Ryan White, said that Sharif Allah played a crucial role in planning the Abbey Gate bombing, and was involved in several other attacks carried out by ISIS-K, including the March 2024 attack on a concert hall in Moscow, which killed about 140 people.
