A man accused of helping plan the Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan that led to the deaths of 13 U.S. service members and roughly 170 others is set to stand trial in Virginia in December.
The trial for Mohammad Sharifullah, the alleged planner from the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate who was extradited from Pakistan to the United States earlier this year, is set to begin on Dec. 8, according to court documents. He is charged with providing and conspiring to provide material support or resources to designated foreign terrorist organizations resulting in death.
A Justice Department affidavit from the time of Sharifullah’s arrest in March outlines his alleged role in the bombing.
He had been in prison in Afghanistan from approximately 2019 until about two weeks before the attack, Sharifullah told FBI special agents after waiving his Miranda rights. Once he was released, another member of the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate contacted him for help with an operation.
Sharifullah was tasked with scouting out a route for the would-be bomber to get as close to U.S. forces at Hamid Karzai International Airport as possible without being detected ahead of time.
U.S. authorities have identified the bomber as Abdul Rahman al Logari, who used a body-worn improvised explosive device and had also been in prison before being released amid the Taliban’s rapid rise in August 2021.
