A federal judge said Monday he will move to detain an ISIS-K member linked to the killing of 13 U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan until trial.
Biden-appointed Judge William Fitzpatrick said he found probable cause for the terrorism charges against Mohammad Sharifullah during a detention hearing at an Alexandria, Virginia courthouse. The Trump administration arrested Sharifullah last Tuesday in connection to the bombing of a Kabul, Afghanistan airport in August 2021 and two other Islamic terrorist attacks.
Sharifullah sat quietly in a dark green jail uniform as more than two dozen viewers sat in the courtroom, where prosecution and defense lawyers cross-examined an FBI special agent involved in the case. The agent testified about multiple FBI interviews with Sharifullah, saying Sharifullah admitted he had specialized experience helping ISIS-K conduct suicide bombing attacks.
The DOJ has alleged Sharifullah helped ISIS-K prepare for the Kabul suicide bombing during the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, killing 13 U.S. soldiers and around 170 Afghans, as well as fatal bombings against a Canadian embassy in 2016 and in Moscow, Russia in 2024.