Saleh and Al-Mirsaad challenged narratives about Mohammad Sharifullah’s role in Kabul airport attack.
NEW DELHI: In a rare alignment of interests, Amrullah Saleh, the former first vice president of Afghanistan, and Al-Mirsaad, a Taliban-backed news outlet, have both raised alarms over the growing discrepancies surrounding the role of Mohammad Sharifullah in the Kabul airport bombing. Despite their differing political stances, they converge on one critical point: Sharifullah, a key figure in ISIS-K, has been portrayed as more central to the attack than he truly was.
Sharifullah’s name was announced by U.S President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening during his speech addressing Congress. Trump termed him a “top terrorist” involved in the 2021 bombing at Kabul airport’s Abbey Gate in Afghanistan, where 13 U.S. service members and at least 170 Afghan civilians were killed.
“Tonight, I am pleased to announce that we have just apprehended the top terrorist responsible for that atrocity, and he is right now on his way here to face the swift sword of American justice”, he said.
According to Trump, Pakistani security agencies acted on Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) intelligence that led to the arrest of Sharifullah, as he thanked Pakistan for “helping arrest this monster.”
It is likely that Trump was briefed by the CIA and other security agencies about Sharifullah, also known as ‘Jafar’, supposed significance in the Kabul airport attack. In such cases, intelligence agencies often shape the narratives presented to political leaders, sometimes amplifying certain aspects to align with strategic interests.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif returned the message of gratitude in a statement issued on Wednesday, thanking Trump for “acknowledging and appreciating Pakistan’s role and support in counterterrorism efforts in Afghanistan,” while adding that Pakistan’s security forces apprehended Sharifullah, an Afghan national, “in a successful operation conducted in Pakistan-Afghan border region.”
“We will continue to partner closely with the United States in securing regional peace and stability,” Sharif later said.
A few hours later, the U.S. Department of Justice released the indictment against Mohammad Sharifullah, and stated that Jafar, after his arrest, told the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officers that he was imprisoned in Afghanistan from approximately 2019 until two weeks before the August 26, 2021, airport attack in Kabul. Upon his release, an ISIS-K member contacted Sharifullah to arrange for his assistance in an upcoming attack.
Later, as per his statement to the FBI, 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 the airport for an attacker.
Sharifullah conducted surveillance on a route, specifically checking for law enforcement and American or Taliban checkpoints. Sharifullah later 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 the airport.
Later that same day, Sharifullah learned of the attack at the airport and recognised the alleged bomber as an ISIS-K operative (Abdul Rahman al-Logari) he had known while incarcerated.
As per information shared with The Sunday Guardian, Sharifullah was taken into custody by Pakistani officials on February 17 from an ISIS-run centre in the Balochistan (Pakistan) region.
After Trump’s address to the U.S. Congress, both Saleh and Al-Mirsaad have come out publicly to say that the narrative surrounding his involvement has been distorted for political gains by both the US and Pakistan.
Saleh, a vocal critic of the Taliban, pointed to Pakistan’s role in exaggerating Sharifullah’s importance as part of an effort to strengthen its relationship with the United States.
According to Saleh, Pakistan has manipulated the narrative, framing Sharifullah as the mastermind to bolster its image as a key ally in the fight against terrorism.
Al-Mirsaad, which is aligned with the Taliban’s viewpoint, also stated that the U.S. and Pakistan agencies have exaggerated Sharifullah’s role in the attack.
According to the Taliban-backed outlet, the real perpetrators of the bombing were other individuals, and Sharifullah was not the mastermind he’s been made out to be.
Both Saleh and Al-Mirsaad agree that the truth surrounding the attack has been deliberately obscured by Pakistan and the U.S., with each nation using the situation to advance their own strategic interests.
Saleh wrote on ‘X’, “Another clever trick. A low-effort move for a massive headline. Good for the ISI. It worked again,” while sharing an article by Afghanistan Green Trend (AGT), which is part of the anti-Taliban resistance since 2011.
The said article indicated that Sharifullah was living under Pakistan’s protective authority after carrying out the attack at Kabul airport.
“The IS-KP operative, identified as the chief suspect in the Abbey Gate bombing and recently brought to the United States by the FBI to face justice on March 4, 2025, carries a complex past. Pay close attention to the turn of events here, as he is a recycled terrorist with a twisted past. In July 2019, this individual—Mohammad Sharifullah—was apprehended by the courageous and legitimate officers of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) under Afghanistan’s Republic government. His capture was publicly announced on July 15, 2019, marking a significant triumph for the NDS at the time. However, the Taliban, upon seizing control on August 15, 2021, released him from detention—an act that underscores their shared ideological roots with such extremists. Freed from custody, Sharifullah went on to orchestrate the devastating Abbey Gate bombing at Kabul airport on August 26, 2021, claiming numerous lives, including 13 U.S. service members, before fleeing to Pakistan by early September 2021. In Pakistan, Sharifullah was effectively ‘recycled’—a calculated move by Pakistani authorities who, on February 28, 2025, handed him over to the United States. This transfer provided a convenient headline for President Trump’s address to Congress on March 5, 2025, casting Pakistan as a cooperative ally in the fight against terrorism. It’s a scenario where every player seems to gain something: the U.S. secures a high-profile arrest, Pakistan burnishes its image, and the Taliban evade scrutiny for their role in his release,” the article said.
Similarly, the article in Al-Mirsaad, titled “Is Mohammad Sharif Jafar, the ISIS operative arrested in Pakistan, truly the mastermind behind the Kabul airport attack?” has made it clear that Sharifullah was merely a small-time operative who was used by Pakistani agencies.
Al-Mirsaad, citing its sources, reports that Mohammad Sharif was not the mastermind behind the Kabul airport attack. Sources reveal that Mohammad Sharifullah was initially arrested in 2019 but escaped from prison following the jailbreak on August 15. Before and after his arrest, he primarily served as a low-ranking observer. However, after the IEA security forces dismantled key figures within ISIS’s leadership in post-victory operations, the group, out of necessity, elevated Sharifullah to a more significant role.
The article goes on to say, “According to Al-Mirsaad’s sources, Mohammad Sharif (also known as Jafar) joined ISIS after the declaration of the so-called ‘caliphate’ in Afghanistan. In 2019, he was captured by the former Kabul administration following an attack. However, he escaped from prison on August 15, 2021, when detention centres were broken open.”
It further claims, “Following major operations by the security forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) in 2022 and 2023, which eliminated important ISIS-K leaders, Jafar became one of the few remaining operatives. As a result, he was appointed to lead ISIS-K’s security division. As he and his network were under close surveillance and targeted operations by security agencies in Afghanistan, Jafar fled to Pakistan for self-preservation.”
Sources indicate that within ISIS ranks, Jafar was also known as Engineer Sharif and Ajmal. As head of the group’s security division, he reportedly directed his subordinates via a Telegram account under the alias “Ishaqzai.”
As per the article, on April 9, 2023, an operation by the General Directorate of Intelligence of the IEA in Zaranj, Nimroz province, resulted in the death of an ISIS member named Abdullah Kabuli. At the time of his death, Kabuli was overseeing ISIS-K’s Migration Department. Similarly, on April 5, 2023, in Herat city’s 9th security district, IEA’s special forces killed an individual named Dr Hussain. Dr Hussain was in charge of ISIS-K’s Suicide Brigade and a member of the group’s leadership council. At the time of his death, he served as the military commander for the western zone.
The article concludes by stating that, “Following the deaths of Dr Hussain and Abdullah Kabuli, a White House spokesperson confirmed that these individuals were the masterminds behind the Kabul airport attack and were killed in operations conducted by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA).”
The article, in a similar assessment to what Saleh, who also served as interior minister and head of the National Directorate of Security in Afghanistan, said that both the Trump administration and Pakistan have strategic motives for inflating Mohammad Sharif’s alleged involvement in the Kabul airport attack.
“Trump seeks to weaken his former political rival by overstating Sharif’s role. By amplifying Mohammad Sharif’s participation, Trump aims to reinforce his narrative that his administration prioritised American security above all else, using this arrest as evidence. On the other hand, Pakistan, possibly acting under U.S. influence, aims to strengthen its relationship with Trump’s administration by positioning itself as a key ally in the “war on terror.”
A senior source in the Taliban, while speaking to The Sunday Guardian, said that the critical point that U.S. authorities missed was that ISIS was running its camps from Pakistan and many of its leaders were living in safe houses in Pakistan under the protection of the Pakistan military. According to him, two confirmed ISIS leaders were responsible for the Kabul airport bombing—Abdullah Kabuli and Dr Hussain—and that both individuals had far more direct involvement in the attack than Sharifullah. Yet, the CIA and Pakistani authorities have exaggerated Jafar’s role to suit each other’s interests.
Significantly, on April 26, 2023, CNN, quoting the National Security Council of the U.S., reported that the mastermind behind the airport attack was killed by the Taliban.
“The administration didn’t name the ISIS-K leader, but John Kirby, the National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications, called him ‘the mastermind of the horrific attack.’ Kirby did not specify when the Taliban killed the ISIS-K leader but called it one in a ‘series of high-profile leadership losses’ that ISIS-K has suffered this year. The terrorist who carried out the suicide bombing, Abdul Rehman Al-Logari, had been released from prison only days earlier when the Taliban took control of the area,” CNN reported.