Taliban Gets Life in Prison for Attacking US, Afghan Forces - Justice Dept

The US Department of Justice announced that former Russian army tank commander Irek Ilgiz Hamidullin was sentenced to life in prison and 30 more years for leading a Taliban group to attack US and Afghan soldiers.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Former Russian army tank commander Irek Ilgiz Hamidullin was sentenced to life in prison and 30 more years for leading a Taliban group to attack US and Afghan soldiers, the US Department of Justice announced in a statement following the verdict.

"Irek Hamidullin has been sentenced to life in prison for his role in orchestrating and conducting a violent attack on Afghan and US forces in Afghanistan in 2009, and conspiring to kill members of the US military," Assistant Attorney General Carlin said in a statement on Thursday.

Hamidullin’s sentence comes after a federal jury convicted him in August and found him guilty of all 15 terrorism-related counts, after he led a group of fighters in an attack approved by the Taliban on a post in Afghanistan in 2009.

According to the Justice Department, Hamidullin had planned the attack for months and acquired weapons including IED’s, heavy machine guns and should-fired rockets which were intended to shoot down a US helicopter.

Hamidullin reportedly joined the Taliban in 2001 and by 2009 had commanded a group of insurgents operating in Afghanistan, the Justice Department said.