An affidavit released Wednesday revealed that an alleged architect of the 2021 Abbey Gate suicide bombing that killed 13 American service members in Afghanistan was released from prison just two weeks before the attack — which coincides with when thousands of prisoners were released from the Bagram Air Base after the Biden administration abandoned it.
The affidavit, released by the Trump Department of Justice, stated that Mohammad Sharifullah was in prison in Afghanistan from approximately 2019 until approximately two weeks before the attack at the Hamid Karzai International Airport’s (HKIA) Abbey Gate.
The affidavit did not say which prison Sharifullah was released from. However, it is a widely known fact that around the time of his release and two weeks before the bombing, Taliban fighters took over a U.S. base abandoned by the Biden administration and freed thousands of prisoners.
The New York Times reported at the time that the Biden administration ordered U.S. troops to withdraw from Bagram on July 1, 2021, and six weeks later, on August 15, 2021, Taliban fighters swept into the base and freed thousands of prisoners, including “senior Taliban and Al Qaeda figures.”
Almost two weeks later, on August 26, 2021, an ISIS suicide bomber allegedly assisted by Sharifullah detonated an explosive device at Abbey Gate, killing 13 U.S. troops and wounding dozens more involved in the messy and chaotic evacuation from the airport after the Taliban swept into the nation’s capital and toppled the U.S.-backed government.
The affidavit says:
15. In an interview with FBI Special Agents after waiving his Miranda rights on or about March 2, 2025, Sharifullah stated the following: Sharifullah was in prison in Afghanistan from approximately 2019 until approximately two weeks before the HKIA attack. Upon Sharifullah’s release, an ISIS-K member contacted Sharifullah to arrange for his assistance in an upcoming attack.
16. ISIS-K members provided Sharifullah with a motorcycle, funds for a cell phone and a SIM card, and instructions to open an account on a particular social media platform to communicate with them during the attack operation. After making these preparations for the attack, Sharifullah was tasked with scouting a route near HKIA for an attacker. Sharifullah conducted surveillance on a route, specifically checking for law enforcement and American or Taliban checkpoints. Sharifullah communicated to other ISIS-K members that he believed the route was clear and that he did not think the attacker would be detected while proceeding through that route. ISIS-K members then instructed Sharifullah to leave the area of HKIA. Later that same day, Sharifullah learned of the attack at HKIA described above and recognized the alleged bomber as an ISIS-K operative he had known while incarcerated.
The Biden administration has blamed the messy withdrawal on the Trump administration for entering into an agreement with the Taliban that set a date for a United States troop withdrawal. However, Trump administration officials say the agreement was always conditions-based and that they would not have abandoned Bagram.
Critics of the withdrawal on both sides of the aisle point to the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Bagram Air Base and not conducting an evacuation from there as a key mistake that worsened the chaos and allowed for the dangerous conditions leading up to the bombing.
President Donald Trump announced Sharifullah’s capture on Tuesday during a joint address to Congress.
He was captured with the help of the Pakistani government and extradited on Wednesday to the United States, where he will be charged with providing and conspiring to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization resulting in death.
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