A federal judge has sentenced Cholo Abdi Abdullah, an al-Shabaab operative who trained as a commercial pilot in preparation for a 9/11-style suicide attack on U.S. soil, to life in prison, capping a years-long terrorism case that likely prevented a mass-casualty catastrophe.

The sentence was handed down Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres following Abdullah’s conviction after a jury trial that concluded on Nov. 4, 2024. Prosecutors said Abdullah conspired to hijack a commercial airliner and deliberately crash it into a building in the United States, fully expecting to die in the attack.

“This was not abstract extremism or online fantasy,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said. “Cholo Abdi Abdullah was a highly trained al-Shabaab operative who was dedicated to recreating the horrific September 11 terrorist attacks on behalf of a vicious terrorist organization.”

According to federal authorities, Abdullah joined al-Shabaab, the Somalia-based terrorist group and official al-Qaeda affiliate, in 2015. He spent roughly a year moving between safe houses in Somalia, where he received weapons and explosives training and was groomed by senior operatives for what they described as a “greater plan.”

That plan was aviation.

Between 2017 and 2019, Abdullah enrolled in a flight school in the Philippines, logging hundreds of hours of instruction toward a commercial pilot’s license. Prosecutors said his training — paid for by al-Shabaab through extortion funds raised in Somalia — was not meant to land him an airline career, but to give him the credentials and cockpit access necessary to carry out a suicide hijacking.

By the time of his arrest in July 2019, Abdullah had completed nearly all requirements for his commercial pilot’s license and was close to finishing his instrument rating, a credential required to fly commercial aircraft for major airlines.

Federal investigators later revealed that Abdullah meticulously studied airline security, cockpit doors, air marshal presence, pilot firearm policies, and post-9/11 hijacking attempts. He researched how to smuggle a knife onto an aircraft and tested airline seating layouts to determine which seats offered the clearest view of the cockpit door.

He also researched potential U.S. targets.

Court records show Abdullah searched online for “Delta flights” and the “tallest building in Atlanta,” focusing specifically on the Bank of America Plaza, a 55-story skyscraper more than 1,000 feet tall. Investigators said the searches came just days after Abdullah was briefed by his al-Shabaab handler on the January 2019 DusitD2 hotel attack in Nairobi, a coordinated assault that killed more than 20 people, including a U.S. citizen.

That attack, carried out under al-Shabaab’s campaign dubbed “Jerusalem Will Never Be Judaized,” was used by Abdullah’s handlers as motivation. Abdullah later admitted that the death of a fellow operative in the Nairobi attack served as “encouragement” for him to continue his mission.

In communications with his handlers, Abdullah openly discussed how the September 11 hijackers succeeded by doing “something completely unexpected,” noting that the only successful hijacking after 9/11 involved a pilot already inside the cockpit. His conclusion was that for the operation to succeed, “we need a pilot in the cockpit.”

That pilot, prosecutors said, was meant to be Abdullah himself.

After his arrest by Philippine authorities, Abdullah was transferred to U.S. custody in December 2020. During FBI interviews, he admitted that he was training to hijack a plane for al-Shabaab, expected civilians to be killed or injured in the attack, and fully anticipated his own death.

“This was a man who was ready to die to murder Americans,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “We thwarted this plot due to the relentless efforts of U.S. law enforcement and thereby likely saved many innocent lives.”

Al-Shabaab, which formally merged with al-Qaeda in 2012, has repeatedly declared its intent to attack the United States. The group has carried out suicide bombings, armed assaults, and mass-casualty attacks across East Africa, often explicitly targeting Western interests. It was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. in 2008.

A federal jury convicted Abdullah on six counts, including providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, 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 — several of which carry potential life sentences.

Judge Torres imposed life imprisonment, ensuring Abdullah will never be free.

Officials emphasized that the case was the result of years of coordinated international intelligence work and counterterrorism monitoring, particularly as extremist groups adapt their tactics to evade modern security measures.

“This was not history repeating itself by accident,” Clayton said. “It was stopped because law enforcement saw it coming.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)