Jury convicts ex-Russian soldier of terror-related charges

Irek Hamidullin, 55, a tank commander who converted to Islam, faced 15 counts, ranging from supporting terrorists to firearms charges, stemming from his orchestration of a 2009 attack on an Afghan Border Police base in eastern Khost province.

Hamidullin – who did not testify during the trial – now faces life in prison. Sentencing was set for November 6.

One major dispute at trial was whether Hamidullin fired his AK-47 rifle at US and Afghan troops. “Hamidullin was captured and detained by the U.S. military in Afghanistan and brought to the United States for trial”.

The jury reached its verdict after five days of testimony and eight hours of deliberations.

A defense attorney for Hamidullin was not immediately available for comment on Friday evening.

“This is war – everyone talks about it, that’s what everyone has heard”, he said. After a brief firefight with U.S. Army soldiers, the two insurgents were killed and Hamidullin was wounded and captured. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Gill said the evidence clearly shows he violated U.S. laws. In secretly recorded interviews, he talked about planning the attack but denied ever firing a shot.

The judge barred the government from using the word “terrorist” and prosecutors were not allowed to mention Osama bin Laden. He was accused of leading insurgents in a 2009 attack on Afghan border police and U.S. soldiers.

According to U.S. officials, Hamidullin is a Russian veteran of the Soviet war in Afghanistan who stayed in the country and joined the Haqqani Network, a Taliban-affiliated militant group.

Prosecutors portrayed Hamidullin as the mastermind of the attack whose goal was to lure US troops into a trap and then pound them with heavy weapons, and shoot down US helicopters.

Around 30 insurgents died in the attack. The coalition forces sustained no casualties. As the helicopters came, he commanded his fighters to fire the anti-aircraft weapons that he has carefully placed in the area.

Hamidullin is said to have positioned himself with a view of the battlefield so that he could radio in orders to the fighters he recruited.

But a US marksman credited with bringing down Hamidullin said he never saw him fire his weapon.

“We know by experience that people say things that are exaggerated or untrue”, the defense attorney said. During their return, U.S. forces identified and killed approximately 20 of Hamidullin’s fighters.