An ISIS commander, Muhammad Sharifullah, who was arrested with the help of Pakistan, appeared in a Virginia federal court on Thursday. During the hearing, he admitted to his role in the Kabul attack and identified two of the attackers involved.
Sharifullah was brought to court wearing a blue prison jumpsuit. During the 10-minute initial hearing, he was informed that if the charges against him were proven, he could face a life sentence. The court ordered that the accused remain in police custody.
The accused used a Dari language interpreter to communicate with the judge. According to U.S. media reports, he will be presented before the court again on Monday afternoon.
U.S. officials revealed that Sharifullah had confessed to the FBI about his involvement in terrorism. He also identified suicide bomber Abdul Rehman and admitted his connection to the Moscow City Hall attack, along with aiding other terror activities.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Seibert stated that the charges against Sharifullah serve as a clear message that the United States will never back down from bringing terrorists to justice.
Pakistan highlighted its counterterrorism cooperation with Washington after the arrest of Mohammad Sharifullah, whom it blames for a 2021 attack on U.S. troops at Kabul airport, in a military operation along the border with Afghanistan.
"We will continue to partner closely with the United States in securing regional peace and stability," Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump thanked the country for the arrest, adding Sharifullah was on his way to the United States.
The United States has charged Sharifullah with helping plan the attack and a hearing was scheduled for him in a federal court in Virginia on Wednesday, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The 2021 bombing at Kabul airport killed at least 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. soldiers as they sought to help Americans and Afghans flee in the chaotic aftermath of the Taliban takeover.
The attack was claimed by ISIS-K, the Afghan branch of the Islamic State group.
The U.S. Justice Department has charged Sharifullah with "providing and conspiring to provide material support and resources" to ISIS-K.
"He confessed. This was the planner of that bombing," White House national security adviser Mike Waltz said in an interview with Fox News.
Sharifullah is in U.S. custody, FBI Director Kash Patel said in a post on X alongside a picture of agents, opens new tab standing in front of the plane that he was due to arrive on.
Pakistan had launched an operation along its Afghan border to capture Sharifullah, whom Sharif described as an Afghan national and top commander for Islamic State Khorasan.
"We thank U.S. President Donald Trump for acknowledging and appreciating Pakistan's role and support in counterterrorism efforts," Sharif added in another statement.
A spokesman for Afghanistan's Taliban government said that "the issue is unrelated to Afghanistan" and that the Taliban was also fighting the Islamic State.
Pakistan's deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, had spoken with U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz on Tuesday, according to a Pakistani foreign office statement.
Dar "reiterated that Pakistan looked forward to building on its longstanding and broad-based relationship with the United States under President Trump and his administration", it said.
SHIFTING TIES
Perennially shifting relations between Islamabad and Washington had been soured by concerns about Pakistan's alleged support of Afghanistan's Taliban rulers.
Although Pakistan denies such support, its links with Washington have frayed, while arch-rival India has gained greater influence.
"This is a significant development in that U.S.-Pakistan ties have been in an unsettled state in the nearly four years since the U.S. exit from Afghanistan," said Michael Kugelman, Director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington D.C.
A Pakistani security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Sharifullah's arrest was part of wide-ranging joint counterterrorism efforts.
"Excellent cooperation has been established between Pakistan and President Trump's new government," the official added.
The U.S. Justice Department said it had caught Sharifullah with the help of the CIA and FBI, without naming Pakistan.
Islamabad is making use of concerns about regional security and counterterrorism "to engage with Trump, who otherwise has no interest in Pakistan", said defence analyst Ayesha Siddiqa.
"For now (the arrest) is just to signal to the United States that Pakistan is there and can be relied upon as a partner."
