US prosecutors accuse ‘al-Shabaab operative’ of plotting to hijack plane and crash it into skyscraper

9060319 BREAKING: Kenyan member of al-Shabab is indicted for new 9/11 plot to fly hijacked airliner into US skyscraper after he trained as a pilot in the Philippines
Cholo Abdi Abdullah is accused of plotting to fly a hijacked plane into a US skyscraper
Police handout
Michael Howie17 December 2020

A Kenyan man has been extradited to the US charged with trying to stage a 9/11-style attack on behalf of the terror group al-Shabaab.  

Cholo Abdi Abdullah, 30, appeared in court in New York via video link on Wednesday accused of conspiring to hijack an aircraft and crash it into a building.  

The US Justice Department earlier said Abdullah had been arrested in the Philippines in July 2019 and was transferred to the US on Tuesday to face six federal charges related to alleged terrorism.

Abdullah told the magistrate judge he was pleading not guilty to all the charges.  

Prosecutors said Abdullah received flight training in the Philippines and obtained a pilot’s licence in preparation for an attack.

“This case, which involved a plot to use an aircraft to kill innocent victims, reminds us of the deadly threat that radical Islamic terrorists continue to pose to our nation,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers said in a statement.

Acting Manhattan US Attorney Audrey Strauss called it a “chilling callback to the horrific attacks of September 11 2001”.  

Prosecutors said Abdullah started planning the attack in 2016 under the direction of an un-named al-Shabaab commander who was also involved in planning a deadly attack in 2019 on a hotel in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, in which more than 20 people were killed.  

Prosecutors said that between 2017 and 2019, Abdullah attended the flight school on “various occasions” and ultimately completed tests to obtain a pilot’s license.

While training to be a pilot, Abdullah allegedly researched how to hijack a commercial airlines flight, including how to breach a locked cockpit door from the cabin. Prosecuotrs have also claimed he researched information about the tallest building in an unidentified US city, and sought information on how to obtain a US visa.

His defence lawyer agreed with the judge that Abdullah should remain in custody pending a hearing in January.

If found guilty, Abdullah faces a possible life sentence in prison.  

The US State Department has designated Somalia-based al-Shabaab as a foreign terrorist organisation. It is an affiliate of al-Qaeda, which carried out the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington that killed almost 3,000 people in 2001.

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