VIRGINIA: The suspected terrorist involved in killing US troops in 2021 and arrested and extradited by Pakistan from the Pakistan-Afghanistan border was produced for a preliminary hearing in a Virginia court.
Muhammad Sharifullah appeared before Judge William Porter in federal court in Virginia on the afternoon of March 5. He was dressed in a blue prison robe.
US officials said that Sharifullah is one of the two suspects involved in the Kabul attack.
During the 10-minute preliminary hearing, Sharifullah was told that if the charges were proved, he would face life imprisonment. Sharifullah, an Afghan national, hired a Dari translator to speak to the judge. At this point, the attorney said that the accused does not have assets, so the Federal Public Defender is needed.
Earlier, the US Justice Department said that Sharifullah had admitted to FBI agents on March 2 that he had joined ISIS in 2000. Regarding the terrorism carried out during the withdrawal of US troops in Afghanistan, Sharifullah said that he had shown an attacker the way to Kabul airport.
On August 26, 2021, 13 U.S. personnel and 170 Afghans were killed in the attack.
Sharifullah said he had personally checked for the possible presence of law enforcement, Americans or the Taliban at checkpoints and later told other Islamic State militants that the route was clear.
Sharifullah also identified al-Lugari, the suicide bomber who attacked the Kabul airport, as a member of ISIS. Sharifullah has also confessed to his involvement in several other attacks for ISIS.
On June 20, 2016, an Islamic State suicide bomber struck outside the Canadian embassy in Kabul, killing more than 10 embassy guards and several civilians.
Sharifullah also admitted to surveying the area for the attack and transporting the terrorist there.
During the investigation, Sharifullah told the FBI that he had exchanged information with the attackers about how Kalashnikov-style guns and other weapons were fired. Sharifullah has admitted that he had given instructions to two of the four arrested men.
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