KABUL - A man accused of helping to plan the Kabul airport bombing during the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 appeared in court last Wednesday.
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) said it had charged Mohammad Sharifullah with providing support and resources to a foreign terrorist organisation, which resulted in death. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. US officials accused Sharifullah of being a member of IS-K, a group that took credit for the attack and that has been proscribed as a terror organisation by governments around the world.
At least 170 Afghans died alongside 13 US service members in the attack, which resulted in intense criticism for then-US President Joe Biden. Current US President Donald Trump, who often blamed Biden and Former Vice-President Kamala Harris for the service members' deaths, announced Sharifullah's arrest in his address to Congress last Tuesday. "He is right now on his way here to face the swift sword of American justice," Trump told his audience. The next day, Sharifullah appeared in court wearing a blue jail jumpsuit, according to CBS News, the BBC's US partner. He stood at about 5ft tall (150cm), wore a surgical face mask and communicated in a packed courtroom via an interpreter.
UNITED STATES - After a brief hearing that discussed his lack of assets and need for a defence lawyer, the federal judge overseeing the case ordered Sharifullah to be held in custody until a formal detention hearing on Monday. Several justice department officials who were recently appointed to office by Trump praised the president for the arrest, and FBI chief Kash Patel shared an image of him in custody. "Under President Trump's strong leadership on the world stage, this Department of Justice will ensure that terrorists like Mohammad Sharifullah have no safe haven, no second chances, and no worse enemy than the United States of America," Attorney General Pamela Bondi said.
A family member of two Afghans who died in the aftermath of the attack said he was upset with Trump after the speech. "He talked about the 13 US soldiers killed but not anything about us," he told the BBC. "We want the Americans to pay attention to us and take us to America as they promised," the man added.
