A Kenyan, Cholo Abdi Abdullah, will spend the rest of his life in prison for plotting what prosecutors called a "9/11-style attack" on Atlanta's tallest building on behalf of an Africa-based terrorist organisation.
On Tuesday, a federal judge sentenced 34-year-old Abdullah to two consecutive life sentences as well as a lifetime of supervised release for planning to hijack a commercial airliner and targeting Atlanta's 55-story Bank of America Plaza as part of a campaign by Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen, commonly known as al-Shabaab.
Abdullah was convicted on November 4, 2024, for multiple crimes related to the terrorist plot, which Abdullah planned to commit on behalf of al-Shabaab, a terrorist organisation and al Qaeda affiliate based in Somalia and active in other locations in East Africa, prosecutors said.
In May 2018, al-Shabaab announced that it would participate in “an al Qaeda-driven campaign” to retaliate against the US for its decision to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
In 2024, a jury in Manhattan found Abdullah guilty on six counts: conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation, providing material support to a foreign terrorist organisation, conspiring to murder US nationals abroad, conspiring to commit aircraft piracy, conspiring to destroy aircraft, and conspiring to commit acts
He was arrested in the Philippines in July 2019 and subsequently extradited to the United States in 2020.
His arrest came following the successful coordination of several investigators attached to bureaus across three continents. Authorities in the US, Philippines and Kenya helped track the suspect and shared information on Abdi’s plans and movements.
Involved in the high-profile case were the US Department of Defence, Kenya’s Anti-Terrorism Police Unit of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Joint
John Eisenberg, the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, described Abdullah’s plot as an attempt to replicate “the most horrific terrorist attack in our history” as he prepared to hijack a commercial airliner and use it to bring down a building on US soil.
“His life sentence serves as a powerful reminder that those who plan attacks against the United States will be prosecuted and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” Eisenberg added.
Abdullah became a member of al-Shabaab in 2015 and travelled to the Philippines for flight training between 2017 and 2019. He completed nearly all of the requirements for a commercial pilot’s license, with his training fully funded by al-Shabaab. The U.S. government has recognised al-Shabaab as a foreign terrorist organisation and an affiliate of al-Qaeda since 2008.
Jay Clayton, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, stated that Abdullah told the FBI he “was fully prepared to die in his terrorist attack.”
Investigators revealed that Abdullah conducted extensive research on airline security, flight procedures, and potential targets. His focus included Delta Airlines flights, which have a major hub in Atlanta, and high-profile buildings like the 55-story Bank of America Plaza.
Throughout his planning, Abdullah provided regular updates to his al-Shabaab handlers, detailing his meticulous preparation for the attack.
Investigations into Abdullah established that he had been trained for months in Somalia to become a deadly terrorist and then spent months at flight school in the Philippines solely preparing to hijack a commercial aircraft to crash it into a building in the US.
So diligent was he in his pursuit that investigators found he was on the cusp of obtaining a commercial pilot licence and was even training on how to breach an aeroplane cockpit door.
His flight school tuition was financed by al-Shabaab, “which raises funds through an elaborate system of extortion in Somalia that it refers to as ‘taxation,’” prosecutors said.
The DOJ said that Abdullah admitted to FBI agents that he was training to become a pilot on behalf of al-Shabaab so that he could hijack a plane.
As part of his planning for the attack, he researched 'certain transit visas that would allow him to enter the US', tested the feasibility of taking a knife on board an aeroplane and admitted that he expected others to be killed or injured when he hijacked the aeroplane.
Abdullah also expected to die in the attack, according to the DOJ.
“Abdullah pursued his commercial pilot license at a flight school in the Philippines while conducting extensive attack planning on how to hijack a commercial plane and crash it into a building in America. As he later admitted to the FBI, he was fully prepared to die in his terrorist attack,” said US Attorney Jay Clayton.
Abdullah represented himself during the trial. He declined to give an opening statement and did not actively participate in questioning witnesses.
The State Department in 2008 designated al-Shabab, which means "the youth" in Arabic, as a foreign terrorist organisation. The militant group is an al-Qaida affiliate that has fought to establish an Islamic state in Somalia based on Shariah law.
