ISIS-K member confessed to scouting Abbey Gate attack route, training Moscow attackers: affidavit

The ISIS-K member described by President Donald Trump as the “top terrorist” suspect behind the 2021 Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan confessed to scouting the attack route and training gunmen involved in a terrorist attack near Moscow last year, according to a Justice Department affidavit. 

Muhammed Sharifullah, who was charged with providing and conspiring to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization resulting in death, is expected to make his first federal court appearance in Virginia Wednesday. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted. 

The Justice Department released photos showing FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard at an airport awaiting Sharifullah’s arrival this morning in the U.S.  

President Trump announced Sharifullah’s capture last night during his address before a joint Congress, saying he was “pleased to announce that we have just apprehended the top terrorist responsible for that atrocity” that left 13 U.S. service members dead in August 2021. 

TRUMP REVEALS TOP TERRORIST BEHIND ABBEY GATE ATTACK APPREHENDED 

During the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021, American and coalition forces were conducting an evacuation operation at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport. 

Abbey Gate was the main entry point for the operation, and thousands of civilians were in the area on Aug. 26, 2021, according to the Justice Department. 

Around 5:36 p.m. that day, Abdul Rahman al-Logari – a member of the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham-Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), “detonated a body-worn suicide bomb at Abbey Gate, killing 13 U.S. military service members and approximately 160 civilians,” the Justice Department said.  

The U.S. withdrawal was completed a few days later and the Taliban later claimed control of Afghanistan.  

An affidavit released by the Justice Department said FBI Special Agents interviewed Sharifullah around the start of this week, during which he revealed that he was in prison in Afghanistan from 2019 until approximately two weeks before the Abbey Gate attack. 

“Upon Sharifullah’s release, an ISIS-K member contacted Sharifullah to arrange for his assistance in an upcoming attack,” the affidavit cited Sharifullah as saying in an interview. 

“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 Hamid Karzai International Airport for an attacker,” the affidavit said. “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,” it continued. “Later that same day, Sharifullah learned of the attack at HKIA… and recognized the alleged bomber as an ISIS-K operative he had known while incarcerated.” 

TRUMP PUSHES TO RECOVER ‘BILLIONS OF DOLLARS’ OF MILITARY EQUIPMENT LEFT BEHIND IN AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL 

The affidavit also alleged that Sharifullah trained gunmen who were involved in a terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue in Moscow in March 2024, which left around 130 people dead. 

“In an interview with FBI Special Agents after waiving his Miranda rights on or about March 2, 2025, Sharifullah stated the following: Sharifullah received an order from a known ISIS-K senior leader to provide instructions on how to properly use AK-style rifles and other weapons to would-be attackers in Moscow,” it said. “Sharifullah shared video instructions with several individuals. Following the attack, Russian authorities arrested four gunmen in connection with the attack. Sharifullah recognized two of those individuals as the same people to whom he provided the firearms training video.” 

National security advisor Michael Waltz told “Fox & Friends” Wednesday that the Abbey Gate victims’ family members were “emotional” when Trump called them to inform them of Sharifullah’s capture. 

“The president said to these families at Arlington, ‘we are going to get this guy.’ We shared the intelligence with Pakistan, and he’s rolled up, and he will be tried in a U.S. court,” Waltz said. 

Bondi added Wednesday that “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.” 

Patel also said his agency “will never forget the loss of these American heroes” at Abbey Gate and “will continue to hunt down those who viciously murdered our warriors… and bring them to justice.” 

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.