New York, Dec 24 — A Kenyan man was sentenced on Monday to life in prison for plotting what US prosecutors described as a “9/11-style” attack on behalf of Somalia-based Islamist group Al-Shabaab, targeting the tallest building in the US city of Atlanta.
A federal judge imposed two consecutive life sentences on Cholo Abdi Abdullah, 34, along with lifetime supervised release, after finding him guilty of planning to hijack a commercial airliner and crash it into the 55-storey Bank of America Plaza.
Last year, a jury in Manhattan convicted Abdullah on six terrorism-related charges, including conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation, plotting to murder US nationals abroad, conspiring to commit aircraft piracy and planning acts of terrorism that crossed national borders.
Prosecutors said Abdullah joined Al-Shabaab — an Al-Qaeda-linked militant group fighting the Somali government — in 2015 and underwent extensive training in explosives, surveillance and covert operations.
As part of the plot, Abdullah agreed to train as a commercial pilot so he could hijack a passenger plane and use it as a weapon inside the United States, according to court filings.
He moved to the Philippines in 2017 to attend flight school, where investigators say he carried out detailed online research on airline security, cockpit doors and potential targets in the US.
In early 2019, prosecutors said Abdullah searched for information on Delta Air Lines flights and Atlanta’s tallest buildings, focusing specifically on the Bank of America Plaza.
Abdullah was arrested later that year on local charges in the Philippines, having nearly completed the requirements for a commercial pilot’s licence. He was transferred to US custody the following year.
US Attorney Jay Clayton said Abdullah was a “highly trained Al-Shabaab operative” who was prepared to die in the planned attack.
During his trial, Abdullah chose to represent himself, declining to deliver an opening statement and largely refraining from questioning witnesses.
Al-Shabaab, designated a foreign terrorist organisation by the United States in 2008, has carried out a deadly insurgency in Somalia for more than 16 years and has repeatedly sought to stage attacks beyond the Horn of Africa.
