Al-Shabab operative planned 9/11-style attack after training as pilot, U.S. says
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have charged a Kenyan man with plotting a Sept. 11-style attack on a building in a U.S. city, according to a newly unsealed federal indictment.
The man, Cholo Abdi Abdullah, 30, was an operative for al-Shabab, the indictment said. The Somali terrorist group has been described as al-Qaida’s largest and most active global affiliate.
The indictment said that under the direction of a senior al-Shabab commander who planned a deadly 2019 attack on a hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, Abdullah sought to obtain pilot training, test flaws in airport security and take other steps in preparation for hijacking a civil aircraft and conducting a terrorist attack on behalf of al-Shabab.
“This chilling callback to the horrific attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, is a stark reminder that terrorist groups like al-Shabab remain committed to killing U.S. citizens,” Audrey Strauss, the acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement.
Abdullah began the process of enrolling in a flight school in the Philippines in 2016, received training and ultimately completed the tests necessary to obtain his pilot’s license, according to the charges.
He also researched methods of hijacking a commercial airliner, such as how to breach a cockpit door from the outside, the indictment charged.
In addition, the indictment says Abdullah did research about the tallest building in a major U.S. city and sought information about how to obtain an American visa. The indictment does not identify the city or the building.
Abdullah, who was arrested by Philippine authorities last year, was brought to the United States on Tuesday, authorities said, and he was arraigned in Federal District Court in Manhattan on Wednesday. He pleaded not guilty to the six-count indictment, and a magistrate judge, Robert W. Lehrburger, ordered him detained.
Abdullah’s lawyer, Jill R. Shellow, said she had no comment after the hearing.
The charges against Abdullah include conspiring to murder Americans, to commit aircraft piracy, to destroy aircraft and to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries. If convicted, Abdullah could face life imprisonment on some counts.