U.S. authorities announced charges Wednesday against Mohammad Sharifullah, the man they said acted as a scout ahead of the suicide bombing that killed 13 American troops during the 2021 troop withdrawal in Afghanistan.
Prosecutors said he admitted to his role in that attack as well as two others, including last year’s Islamic State attack on a music hall in Moscow that killed 130 people. He told FBI interrogators that he offered weapons instruction to would-be attackers.
President Trump announced the arrest in his address to Congress on Tuesday, calling the suspect a “monster” who orchestrated the attack on the Abbey Gate at Kabul’s airport on Aug. 26, 2021.
The details revealed in an FBI affidavit accompanying the charges suggest a less prominent role.
Mr. Sharifullah said he got out of an Afghan prison two weeks before the attack and was quickly contacted by ISIS for the upcoming attack. He was given a motorcycle, money to buy a cellphone and instructions to set up a social media account to communicate with his handlers.
He told the FBI he was then asked to scout to make sure the route was clear for the actual suicide bomber.
“This evil ISIS-K terrorist orchestrated the brutal murder of 13 heroic Marines,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in announcing the charges.
Mr. Trump, in his speech Tuesday, thanked Pakistan for its assistance in nabbing Mr. Sharifullah.
Mr. Sharifullah told FBI interrogators that he was also involved in scouting for a 2016 suicide bombing at the Canadian Embassy in Kabul and drove the bomber to the location.
And he said he created an instructional video on how to use AK-style rifles for people who were to be part of the 2024 Moscow attack. He said he later recognized two of the four arrested gunmen as people he’d instructed.
