It is also noteworthy that during his presidency, Donald Trump prioritized U.S.-India relations, causing unease in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Against this backdrop, Sharifullah’s capture and extradition may serve as a strategic move to counter India’s growing influence.
Shamim ShahidÂ
The U.S. President Donald Trump, during his speech to Congress on the night of March 4-5 (Pakistan time), took many by surprise, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and most of the Pakistani public by revealing that a terrorist involved in the deadly attack at Karzai international Airport in Kabul during the withdrawal of allied forces on August 15, 2021, had been captured.
He thanked the Pakistani government for its cooperation and appluded the operation.
The apprehended terrorist Sharif Ullah, was produced before the court on Thursday while His name has caused headlines across global media. However, as more details emerge about the events before and after the Kabul airport attack, doubts are surfacing regarding the claims made by Trump and Pakistani officials. It is now their responsibility to provide accurate information about Shariullah’s arrest and extradition.
Reports from Afghanistan suggest that Shariullah is linked to the global terrorist organization ISKP. Following the defeat of ISIS in Syria’s proxy war against Iran and the Assad regime in 2014-2015, the group mysteriously emerged in Afghanistan. At the same time, Pakistan launched Operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan, forcing thousands of militants to flee. Many Pakistani Taliban fighters defected from the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and officially joined ISKP. In fact, the 40-member ISKP Shura had a majority of Pakistani fighters. By 2019, four of ISKP ’s five top leaders were Pakistani, and even today, many of its members are former Pakistani militants.
Historically, many of these militants were once part of Afghan jihadist groups supported financially, technically, and politically by U.S. allies in Peshawar. Later, these groups evolved into the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, Though outwardly divided, both factions remain interconnected.
When Afghan ex-president Ashraf Ghani became took charge of affairs as President in 2014, Pakistani Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah escaped to Afghanistan. He, along with Afghan Taliban forces, weakened Afghan state control along the Durand Line. Meanwhile, ISKP militants who had relocated from Syria and Iraq began terrorizing Afghanistan’s eastern provinces—Nangarhar, Kunar, Nuristan, Laghman, and Logar.
By 2019, ISKP had virtually established its own state within these Afghan regions. Even the Afghan Taliban struggled to contain ISKP ’s growing influence. A joint operation by Afghan and U.S. coalition forces against ISKP began in early 2019 and lasted until July of that year, during these operations, nearly 3,000 ISIS fighters were captured in Nangarhar alone. Among them were 2,700 women and children, mostly from Pakistan’s tribal areas, including Orakzai, Waziristan, and Bajaur.
As pressure mounted, ISKP leaders sought refuge elsewhere. The group’s head, Aslam Farooqi, was arrested in Kandahar and later transferred to a high-security prison in Kabul. However, when the Taliban took over on August 15, 2021, they opened prison gates across the country, allowing detained militants to escape.
According to former Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh, Sharif Ullah was initially arrested in 2019 and freed when the Taliban stormed Afghan jails in August 2021. Though he was initially an insignificant fighter, he later gained notoriety as ISKP strengthened its presence in Nangarhar. Sharif Ullah operated under multiple aliases, including Qari Muhammad, Qari Sharif Ghazni, Jafar Muhammad, Jafar Sharif,Sharif al-Khilaji His brother, Naqeebullah al-Khorasani, also an ISKP member, was killed in a joint Afghan-U.S. operation in Nangarhar in 2019.
After the Taliban returned to power, they attempted to re-arrest ISKP fighters. Sharifullah, along with other militants, fled Afghanistan and reportedly took refuge in Mastung, Balochistan, in September 2021.
Trump’s announcement has also puzzled former CIA officials, who insist that the Kabul airport bombing was orchestrated by Al-Qaeda and the Haqqani Network. Meanwhile, Pakistani authorities claim they arrested Sharifullah in 2023.
Both the Taliban’s spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, and Amrullah Saleh question the timing and nature of Sharifullah’s capture and extradition, raising concerns that ISKP is being politically manipulated by both the U.S. and Pakistan.
Former TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan has also made similar claims, reinforcing suspicions that the war initiated in the 1970s on Afghan soil is far from over. Instead, it is evolving into a new phase—one that will likely center on the volatile Pakistan-Afghanistan border regions, home to politically, religiously, and economically divided Pashtun communities.
It is also noteworthy that during his presidency, Donald Trump prioritized U.S.-India relations, causing unease in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Against this backdrop, Sharifullah’s capture and extradition may serve as a strategic move to counter India’s growing influence.
, took many by surprise, including){kind=link}