United States President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the ISKP terrorist who masterminded the Kabul Airport attack in 2021 has been arrested with the help of Pakistan and is being transported to the US.

Addressing the US Congress for the first time since assuming office, Trump said, “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 went on to say that Pakistan had helped the US in apprehending the ‘monster’.

The attack on Kabul Airport in 2021 during the US withdrawal had claimed the lives of 13 US soldiers and 170 Afghan citizens. Trump said that the arrest was a ‘big day’ for the families of the soldiers who died.

In response, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Trump for ‘acknowledging and appreciating’ Pakistan’s role in counter terrorism efforts in the US.

“As is well-known, Pakistan has always played a critical role in counter terrorism efforts aimed at denying safe havens to terrorists and militant groups the space to operate against any other country,” Sharif wrote on X.

He added that Pakistan has lost 80,000 lives in the fight against terrorism but the resolve of the nation remained steadfast.

“We will continue to partner closely with the United States in securing regional peace and stability,” Sharif added.

Neither Sharif nor Trump gave any details about who the apprehended terrorist is or how he was apprehended. However, according The Khorasan Diary, an Islamabad-based think tank and digital media outlet covering security and conflict., Sharifullah was arrested from Balochistan in mid-February after a tip-off from CIA.

However, a CNN report has claimed that the terrorist who was apprehended has been identified as ‘Sharifullah’ who also goes by the name of ‘Jafar’. According to the CNN report, he has already been charged with conspiring and providing support to a terrorism organisation in an East Virginia court.

Sharifullah was interviewed by FBI agents on Sunday where he admitted to supporting and conducting multiple attacks for the ISIS-K.

He was jailed in 2019 and was only released two weeks before the attack on Kabul airport. He reportedly helped with scouting the attack and planning a route for the bomber to reach the airport undetected.

According to the FBI, Sharifullah was also involved in an attack on embassy guards in Kabul in 2016 and an attack on a nightclub in Russia in 2024.