Justice Department · Thursday, September 17, 2026
ISIS-K member sentenced to 20 years for Abbey Gate role
The File desk · Sep. 17, 2026, 10:16 a.m. ET
Confirmed2 primary sources
Status
Confirmed from a Justice Department Office of Public Affairs release dated Sept. 16, 2026. The FBI press listing was blocked to this desk.
Afghan national Mohammad Sharifullah, whom prosecutors identify as a member of Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham–Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in federal prison. The Justice Department says he took part in a nearly 10-year conspiracy to provide material support to the designated foreign terrorist organization. Court records cited in the release say that on Aug. 26, 2021, he surveilled a road to Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul and told ISIS-K leadership the route was clear before a suicide bomber killed 13 U.S. service members and about 160 civilians at Abbey Gate. Prosecutors also tie him to earlier and later ISIS-K attacks, including a 2016 bombing near the Canadian embassy in Kabul and communications support around the March 2024 Crocus City Hall attack near Moscow. The case is Eastern District of Virginia Case No. 1:25-cr-143. A sentence is a court judgment after conviction; the public release summarizes the government’s case and the sentence imposed.
Afghan national Mohammad Sharifullah, whom prosecutors identify as a member of Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham–Khorasan Province, was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in federal prison.
The Justice Department says he took part in a nearly 10-year conspiracy to provide material support to the designated foreign terrorist organization.
Court records cited in the release say that on Aug. 26, 2021, he surveilled a road to Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul and told ISIS-K leadership the route was clear before a suicide bomber killed 13 U.S. service members and about 160 civilians at Abbey Gate.
Prosecutors also tie him to earlier and later ISIS-K attacks, including a 2016 bombing near the Canadian embassy in Kabul and communications support around the March 2024 Crocus City Hall attack near Moscow.
The case is Eastern District of Virginia Case No. 1:25-cr-143.
A sentence is a court judgment after conviction. The public release summarizes the government’s case and the sentence imposed.
How we know
What is still unknown or disputed
- Full sentencing-transcript detail and any pending appeals are not in the Office of Public Affairs release.
Primary sources
Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.
Source 1
ISIS-K Terrorist Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Role in Abbey Gate and Other Terror Attacks
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs · September 16, 2026
Afghan national Mohammad Sharifullah… sentenced today to 20 years in prison for his participation in a nearly 10 year conspiracy to provide material support… Abbey Gate… Case No. 1:25-cr-143.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/isis-k-terrorist-sentenced-20-years-prison-role-abbey-gate-and-other-terror-attacks
Source 2 · fetch incomplete
Press Releases listing
Federal Bureau of Investigation · September 16, 2026
Live FBI page returned HTTP 403 this pass. Not quoted.
https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/isis-k-terrorist-sentenced-to-20-years-in-prison-for-role-in-abbey-gate-and-other-terror-attacks