Propaganda Against The Arrest Of A High-Profile Terrorist – OpEd

The recent arrest of Muhammad Sharifullah, who is a high-ranking ISIS-K militant and mastermind behind several deadly attacks has sparked a wave of propaganda.

U.S. President Donald Trump, in his first address to Congress on March 5, 2025, thanked the Pakistani government for assisting in its capture and revealed that Sharifullah had been captured ‘on March 5, 2025’. Nevertheless, Al-Mirsad (Afghanistan’s General Director of Intelligence), and then the PTI have waged a series of hostile narratives to invalidate the arrest. Their attempt to write down this major counterterrorism success calls into question their motivations and credibility.

This is not just an ISIS‐K foot soldier, it is someone who has been a mastermind of several deadly attacks in many countries, says Muhammad Sharifullah. Included in his terrorist activities is the March 2024 bombing of Crocus City Hall in Moscow, the January 2024 bombing of Kerman in Iran, the 2016 Canadian Embassy bombing in Kabul, and the 2021 Abbey Gate bombing in Kabul. In addition, he has been involved in rocket attacks on the Afghan Presidential Palace and the U.S. Embassy. His arrest is huge blow to international terrorism: his track record shows him to be a major player in ISIS-K and dribble enough to indicate his strategic importance.

Sharifullah admitted to FBI agents his role in at least five operations conducted by ISIS-K on March 2, 2025. Scouting locations for the 2021 Abbey Gate bombing, surfing for the 2016 Canadian Embassy attack in Kabul and training gunmen on the 2024 Moscow attack, it confessed to all the above. He also confirmed that he was senior in ISIS-K in orchestrating various lethal operations in Afghanistan and that he supported ISIS-K in those operations. Leaving his own confessions to their own claims, he tears down any argument that his arrest was unjust or exaggerated.

The arrest of Sharifullah, however, has been met by the methods of the Taliban and their intelligence agency, and particularly GDI, to downplay the arrest. Their account is of a fabricated arrest or false arrest, or politically induced arrest by the US and Pakistan. The Taliban’s history of not stopping ISIS-K from increasing its reach and of denying breaches in their security is why this reaction is predictable.

The Taliban is dismissing Sharifullah’s arrest as one of the principal reasons because it will shield their security failings, most notably their inability to manage the public presentation of high-profile terrorists. Prison break attempt on August 15, 2021, that resulted in thousands of ISIS-K and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants making a getaway was a disaster on epic proportions. The resurge of terrorist networks that now roam terror-organized Afghanistan, Pakistan as well as elsewhere result from Taliban’s incompetence to ensure safe and secured keys facilities.

The poor border management by the Taliban allows terrorists to waltz into Pakistan as a civilian and wage cross border attacks. Pakistan has been carrying out this (dismantling terrorist networks), but forces of the Taliban do not have the ability or choose to crackdown on ISIS K elements operating from Afghan soil. By giving these militants like Sharifullah freedom to operate in this porous border, his capture, as rare as it may be, was that rare success of the battle against terrorism.

Despite extensive evidence, Sharifullah involvement in global terrorism, some Pakistani political entities, most notably PTI, have echoed Taliban backed narratives. It appears their stance against the U.S.-Pakistan cooperation in counter terrorism efforts are more political than national security driven. Pakistan’s broader efforts to eradicate extremism are put on endangered footing by this politicisation of terrorism related arrests.

It’s a big win in the fight against ISIS-K that sharply diminishes the group’s ability to operate in Afghanistan. Particularly, counterterrorism forces have taken two measures that are essential for avenging the victims of these heinous crimes as well as helping to prevent future atrocities: removing one key figure responsible for planning and executing high-casualty attacks. Such a strong and high value target caught is the proof of alliance between Pakistan and USA for regional stability and counter terrorism alliances.

But the negative propaganda around the arrest tries to degrade public faith on these efforts. Al-Mirsad, GDI, and PTI all work to spread disinformation campaigns on behalf of their terrorist sympathizing parties, not parties looking to secure and create peace. Indeed, these need to be countered with factual evidence, as well as a firm commitment to combating terrorism.

The arrest of Muhammad Sharifullah should be considered a major win for the global war on terror. The strategic value that his capture will bring to our fight is that he was involved in several high-profile attacks. As the Taliban and its allies try to undermine this success, their stories fall apart when the facts are weighed and when Sharifullah admits to what he did. Rather than succumbing to disinformation, regional stakeholders should attempt to fortify counterterrorism measures, secure borders and avoid threats from a group such as ISIS-K.

What is behind the negative propaganda against Sharifullah’s arrest is not only about undermining a single operation; rather, this is an attempt to clean up terrorism, protect militants, and impair international security cooperation. Once again, the world must be alert from such misleading narratives and should realize that the arrest is a big blow to terrorism and a great victory for global security.