![ISIS-K senior operative Mohammad Sharifullah, charged in the 2021 Kabul Airport bombing that killed 13 US service members, was captured in Pakistan and extradited to the United States on March 4. [FBI director Kash Patel X account]](/cnmi_st/images/2025/03/12/49517-sharifullah-fbi-airport-739_416.webp)
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."
Never believe the words of the damned Pakistan. God knows whether this person has relation to any terrorist group or not, but Pakistan sold him to the United States for the purpose of getting dollars. Furthermore, I am deeply shocked by acts of the current US government. They said they wanted to Make America Great Again, while Senator Sanders pointed at, was this America’s greatness? Was America the tyrant that it has proven to be in Palestine over the past year and a half? The world thought America was a place of greatness, peace, love, human rights, respect, democracy, multiculturalism, linguistic diversity, and religious diversity. Now all of this is slowly losing its color. I have never been to the United States, but I have worked with American organizations and I respect the United States and Americans. Through this letter, I call on Americans to challenge the Trump administration through peaceful demonstrations and protests and not to allow they tarnish the name of the United States anymore. You know that there are almost two billion Muslims in the world, but by supporting ten million Jews, the United States is slowly, slowly losing support of two billion Muslims. If the United States would continue doing so, it will be an insult to the greatness and honor of the United States, and in the future Muslims will begin to hate and despise the United States and Americans. The consequences of hatred and resentment are truly dark and bad, and who will get benefit of it? The bene
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If the United States thinks that they are partnering with Punjabis against terrorism, they are actually wasting their time because, 1- Punjabis [Pakistanis] are not committed to their promise, 2- They are not committed to the religion 3- They are not loyal to their word 4- They are the most tricky and deceitful generation like Jews in the world. That is why they are in a state of decline day by day.
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Every action of Pakistan is aimed at deceiving Western countries, especially the United States, and obtaining money from them. Pakistan is not honest with anyone. During the presence of the international coalition in Afghanistan, on the one hand, it received money from the United States. On the other hand, it was training armed groups against the U.S. and the U.S.-backed Afghan government and sending them to Afghanistan for war. Pakistan is a liar.
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Pakistan itself is the biggest safe haven for terrorists. The United States should know that the largest number of terrorists in the world are hiding and or captured in Pakistan. But the reality is that the Pakistani army and intelligence agencies use terrorists for their own benefit and when they realize that they are either getting revealed or the terrorists are no longer useful to them, they sell them to the United States and other stupid countries in exchange of huge money. In fact, the Pakistani army is the architect of the terrorists and creates them and presents them for operations. Osama, Khalid Sheikh are good examples. It is at a time as today, Baluchistan freedom fighters have warned Pakistan and China. After Baluchistan freedom fighters hijacked a train traveling from Quetta to Peshawar and killed dozens of Pakistani soldiers, they warned Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistani officials to leave Baluchistan. China is operating in Baluchistan with the help of the Pakistani army, but the residents of Baluchistan are fighting them. Baloch activists say that China is operating in Baluchistan, especially in Gwadar, without the consent of the Baloch people, and the Baloch people do not agree with this. The people of Baluchistan want freedom from Pakistan. The residents of Baluchistan initially voted against the creation of Pakistan in 1947, but in 1948 the Pakistani army invaded Baluchistan and arrested the head of the Baluchistan government, who was then transferred
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