How Pakistan took the fight to Isis-K – and won Trump's praise
The call came in January. CIA Director John Ratcliffe, just days into his tenure, reached out to
Pakistan 's intelligence chief with a plea: help us bring those behind Kabul's Abbey Gate bombing – an attack that killed 170 Afghan civilians and 13 American soldiers – to justice.
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What followed was a sweeping seven-month operation that spanned intelligence networks across 21 nations, culminating in the arrest of Mohammad Sharifullah and 38 others. It was a victory that has thrust Pakistan back into the global spotlight as an integral player in the fight against
Islamic State Khorasan , or Isis-K.
Russia ,
Led by Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) – whose director general Lieutenant General Asim Malik met Ratcliffe on the sidelines of a security conference in Germany to hatch the plan – the operation dismantled a key Isis-K 'external operations cell' responsible for some of the deadliest attacks in recent years, with its most dangerous operatives subsequently deported to countries including the
United States
Turkey and
Iran
The arrest of Sharifullah, an Afghan national who confessed to orchestrating the Abbey Gate suicide bombing during the chaotic
US withdrawal in August 2021 , marked a diplomatic victory for Islamabad and Washington.
US Marines are seen at Abbey Gate outside Kabul airport after a suicide bomber had detonated explosives in August 2021. Photo: US Department of Defence via AP
It prompted rare praise from US President
Donald Trump , who extended thanks on March 4 to Pakistan's government 'for helping arrest this monster' during
his first speech to Congress since retaking the presidency.
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