NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 23 – A Kenyan national linked to the Somalia-based extremist group Al-Shabaab has been sentenced to life imprisonment in the United States for plotting a 9/11-style terrorist attack targeting American civilians.
Cholo Abdi Abdullah, 35, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres at the Southern District of New York after being convicted on multiple terrorism-related charges, including conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and plotting to hijack a commercial aircraft to crash it into a U.S. building.
Abdullah’s conviction followed a jury trial that concluded on November 4, 2024.
U.S. Southern District of New York Attorney, Jay Clayton described Abdullah as a highly trained extremist who was prepared to die in pursuit of a mass-casualty attack.
“Cholo Abdi Abdullah was a highly trained Al-Shabaab operative dedicated to recreating the horrific September 11 terrorist attacks,” Clayton said. “He pursued a commercial pilot’s license while carefully planning how to hijack a plane and crash it into a building in America. He will now spend the rest of his life behind bars.”
According to court records, Abdullah joined Al-Shabaab in 2015, spending about a year in Somalia moving between safe houses where he received military-style training, including firearms handling and explosives-making.
He was later selected by senior operatives for what prosecutors described as a broader international aviation plot aimed at replicating the September 11 attacks.
Between 2017 and 2019, Abdullah enrolled at a flight school in the Philippines, where he trained towards obtaining a commercial pilot’s license. Prosecutors said his tuition and living expenses were financed by Al-Shabaab through an extortion-based funding network in Somalia.
By the time of his arrest in July 2019, Abdullah had nearly completed all requirements for a commercial pilot’s license and was close to earning an instrument rating that would have enabled him to work for a major airline.
Following his arrest, Abdullah admitted to FBI agents that he was training as a pilot so he could hijack a plane on behalf of Al-Shabaab. Investigators said he researched cockpit security, airline hiring processes, U.S. transit visas, and methods of smuggling weapons aboard aircraft. He acknowledged that others would likely die in the attack and that he expected to die himself.
National Security Assistant Attorney General, John A. Eisenberg said the plot was disrupted through coordinated international law enforcement efforts. “Abdullah sought to replicate the most horrific terrorist attack in our history. Because of the relentless work of U.S. and international partners, this plot was thwarted, and countless lives were likely saved.” Eisenberg said.
Court records also linked Abdullah’s radicalization to Al-Shabaab’s broader campaign against Western interests, including the January 2019 DusitD2 terror attack in Nairobi, which killed more than 20 people, including a U.S. citizen.
Prosecutors said Abdullah was briefed on the DusitD2 attack by his handler and later searched online for footage of the assault, using it as motivation to advance his own plans.
FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher Raia said the case underscored the persistent threat posed by global terrorist networks.
Abdullah will not be eligible for supervised release, effectively ensuring he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
