As if the United States weren’t mired in enough frightening problems, would-be super-terrorists appear to be still trying to stage another 9/11 attack.
A Kenyan man identified as a member of al-Shabab, the East African jihadi group, has been accused of plotting to crash an airliner into a U.S. building after receiving pilot training in the Philippines, as reported on DailyMail.com.
Cholo Abdi Abdullah, 30, was arrested in 2019 in the Philippines with a homemade bomb, a grenade and a firearm, CNN reported at the time. Abdullah was extradited to the U.S. on Dec. 15. He pleaded not guilty to all counts in a New York court on Dec.16.
Prosecutors said Abdullah got flight training in the Philippines between 2017 and 2019 and obtained a pilot’s license in preparation for an attack.
It has not been stated which building or even city could have been the target of the plot, which could bring Abdullah multiple terrorism-related charges and, if he is convicted, 20 years to life in prison.
Prosecutors said Abdullah reported to an al-Shabab commander who ran an attack on a major Nairobi hotel in 2019.
The U.S. State Department in 2008 designated al-Shabab, which has sworn allegiance to al Qaeda and serves as the terrorist group’s principal wing in East Africa, as a foreign terrorist organization. The militant group has been trying to set up a Sharia-law state in Somalia.
In announcing the hijacking plot, prosecutors said the extremist group recently “embarked on a string of terrorist attacks” following the United States’ relocation of its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
