The U.S. Department of Justice has dismissed two key prosecutors responsible for handling the case of the deadly Kabul airport attack, which killed 13 American soldiers and more than 170 Afghans.

AnsarPress Newsroom - The U.S. Department of Justice has removed two senior prosecutors from the Eastern District of Virginia who were involved in investigating the ISIS attack at Kabul Airport.

Maya Song, a senior official at the U.S. Attorney`s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Michael Ben-Ari, the lead prosecutor overseeing national security cases in that district, were both dismissed from their positions last week.

Michael Ben-Ari served as the lead prosecutor in the case of Mohammad Sharifullah, whom the U.S. government accuses of masterminding the deadly Kabul airport bombing in August 2021-an attack that claimed the lives of 13 U.S. service members and more than 170 Afghan civilians.

The legal proceedings in this case are still ongoing, and Sharifullah is expected to stand trial later this year. He was transferred to the United States after being arrested in Pakistan and has remained in federal custody since his arrival.

The Eastern District of Virginia, home to the Pentagon and the CIA headquarters, is regarded as one of the most important and prominent federal judicial offices in the country, well-known for handling international and terrorism-related cases.

This dismissal comes just days after the Trump administration also replaced the federal attorney for this district with someone who had previously filed charges against former FBI Director James Comey.

The simultaneous removal of two senior officials linked to such a sensitive national security case has sparked questions and speculation within U.S. legal and media circles about the motives and potential political implications behind this decision.