Working together, US, Pakistan net senior operative in Kabul airport attack

HERAT -- A senior operative of the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" Khorasan branch (ISIS-K) charged in the 2021 Kabul Airport bombing that killed 13 US troops and 170 Afghans made his first appearance in a US court on March 5.

Mohammad Sharifullah, also known as Jafar, was apprehended in a "successful operation conducted in the Pakistan-Afghan border region," Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said.

"I am pleased to announce that we have just apprehended the top terrorist responsible for that atrocity," US President Donald Trump said in his March 4 congressional address, thanking Pakistan for helping with Sharifullah's arrest.

The United States has charged Sharifullah with providing and conspiring to provide material support and resources to a terrorist organization that resulted in death.

Sharifullah has confessed to scouting the route to Kabul airport's Abbey Gate, where a suicide bomber later detonated explosives among the crowds, the US Justice Department said.

ISIS-K operatives provided him with a phone and SIM card for the reconnaissance mission, according to a Justice Department affidavit.

The high-profile capture reflects an intensifying global crackdown on ISIS-K operatives, regional security analysts told Salaam Times.

"Intelligence and military cooperation between the United States and its allies in the fight against terrorism has significantly increased," Herat-based military expert Wali Mohammad Haseen told Salaam Times.

"Pakistan's arrest of the Kabul airport attack perpetrator exemplified this heightened collaboration," he said.

Such global joint operations are effectively disrupting terrorist networks' command and control capabilities, according to security experts.

Counterterrorism partnership

"ISIS-K operates transnationally using social media networks and complex communication methods," Herat-based political analyst Mohammad Naser Herawi told Salaam Times.

"Combating this terrorist group is impossible without continuous intelligence sharing and coordinated military operations between nations," he said.

Further evidence of the group's reach emerged when Sharifullah admitted to sharing weapons training videos with perpetrators of the March 2024 Moscow Crocus City Hall attack, according to the Justice Department.

ISIS-K has sought to establish safe havens in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Herat-based international relations expert Jawad Farzan told Salaam Times.

But the arrest of Sharifullah demonstrates how detailed intelligence sharing between nations is systematically weakening the group's reach, he said.

In a post on X, Sharif thanked Trump for acknowledging Pakistan's counterterrorism efforts and pledged to "continue to partner closely with the United States in securing regional peace and stability."

"No terrorist group can withstand the unity and cooperation of nations," Farzan said. "The stronger the military and intelligence partnerships, the lower the chances of terrorist organizations achieving their objectives."