US arrests suspect linked to 2024 Moscow terrorist attack
The US authorities have arrested a suspect linked to several high-profile terrorist attacks, including the deadly assault on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall concert venue in March 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has said.
Identified as Mohammad Sharifullah, the Afghan national is a member of an offshoot of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) known as ISIS-K, the DOJ stated. The organization is primarily active in Afghanistan. According to CNN, the man was transported to the US from Pakistan earlier this week.
The US authorities have charged Sharifullah with “providing and conspiring to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization resulting in death,” according to the DOJ statement. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Sharifullah admitted during FBI questioning that he provided the Crocus City Hall attackers with instructions on how to use their weapons, the US authorities said. He also specifically named two gunmen as people he had previously instructed.
The March 2024 attack, which involved four gunmen, was one of the biggest terrorist attacks in recent Russian history. The assailants killed 145 people and injured over 500 others.
All of the gunmen were arrested by Russian law enforcement as they sought to flee the country through the border with Ukraine. Around three dozen suspects were arrested in connection to the case.
According to the DOJ, Sharifullah was also allegedly instrumental in the terrorist attack against US forces guarding the Kabul airport during America’s hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
The suicide bombing attack claimed the lives of 13 American servicemen and around 160 civilians. Sharifullah admitted to the FBI to scouting the route for the suicide bomber, ensuring that he would not be detected. He is also suspected of providing surveillance for another terrorist suicide bomber who detonated himself outside of the Canadian Embassy in Kabul in 2016, killing over ten guards.
According to CNN, the suspect was arrested in Pakistan based on CIA intelligence. US President Donald Trump thanked Islamabad for “helping arrest this monster.” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed the arrest and thanked Washington for acknowledging Pakistan’s role in the operation.
