Defense attorneys for a Russian military veteran suspected of a Taliban attack on U.S. forces in Afghanistan were to present closing arguments in the trial in U.S. District Court.

Irek Hamidullin, a former Soviet tank officer, is charged with 12 counts related to a November 2009 attack on Afghan border police and U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan’s Khost Province.

Charges include providing material support to terrorism and trying to bring down U.S. military helicopters. He was indicted late last year by a federal grand jury in Virginia and his trial has been going on in the city of Richmond since July 30, 2015.

No American or Afghan military personnel were killed in the attack. Hamidullin has denied firing his weapon, although American soldiers testified that they saw muzzle flashes from his rifle before he was apprehended.

Hamidullin is the first Taliban fighter from the Afghan war to be tried in a U.S. federal court.

If convicted on all counts, Hamidullin faces life in prison.
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