Feds charge Kenyan al-Shabab terrorist with plotting 9/11-style attack on American city: Jihadi trained as a pilot and was arrested in Philippines with a gun and a bomb
- Cholo Abdi Abdullah allegedly spent years training to carry out a 9/11-style attack; he will appear in a New York court later Wednesday
- Abdullah, who has been in custody since 2019, took orders from an al-Shabab commander responsible for the Nairobi hotel attack in 2019, prosecutors said
- He researched ways to enter the US and how to hijack a plane, they add
- Abdullah faces multiple charges and if convicted 20 years to life in prison
- It is not clear which skyscrapers were part of the alleged plot
- But the acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney called it ‘a chilling callback’ to 9/11
A Kenyan member of al-Shabab stands accused of plotting to fly an airliner into a United States’ skyscraper after he trained as a pilot in the Philippines.
Cholo Abdi Abdullah, 30, spent years training to carry out a 9/11-style attack, prosecutors say. He will appear in a New York court later Wednesday.
He said to have been arrested in 2019 in the Philippines with an improvised explosive device, a hand grenade and a gun, CNN reported at the time.
Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: ‘This chilling callback to the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001, is a stark reminder that terrorist groups like al Shabaab remain committed to killing U.S. citizens and attacking the United States.’
Cholo Abdi Abdullah, 30, pictured, spent years training to carry out a 9/11-style attack, prosecutors say. He will appear in a New York court later Wednesday
Abdullah, who has been in custody since last year, took orders from an al-Shabab commander responsible for the hotel attack in Nairobi in 2019, prosecutors said.
Al Shabaab has sworn allegiance to al Qaeda and serves as the terrorist group’s principal wing in East Africa.
He researched ways to enter the US and how to hijack a plane, they add.
Abdullah faces multiple charges and if convicted 20 years to life in prison. It is not clear which skyscrapers were part of the alleged plot.
Cholo Abdi Abdullah will appear in a New York court later Wednesday
FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William Sweeney said: ‘Nearly 20 years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, there are those who remain determined to conduct terror attacks against United States citizens. Abdullah, we allege, is one of them.
‘He obtained a pilot’s license overseas, learning how to hijack an aircraft for the purpose of causing a mass-casualty incident within our borders.’
Abdullah is charged with conspiring to provide and providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization (al Shabaab), conspiring to murder U.S. nationals, conspiring to commit aircraft piracy, conspiring to destroy aircraft, and conspiring to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries.