Feds Foil Terrorist Plot Targeting Atlanta’s Tallest Building
Published 21 hours ago
on December 24, 2025
By Cullen McCue
A Kenyan national linked with a Somali terrorist organization was sentenced Tuesday in connection with a planned attack targeting Atlanta’s tallest building.
Cholo Abdi Abdullah, 34, was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in federal prison plus a lifetime of supervised release for his role in a foiled plot to hijack a commercial airliner and crash it into Atlanta’s tallest building, the Bank of America Plaza.
The sentencing took place in a New York federal court following his conviction in November 2024 on six terrorism-related charges. The plot was carried out on behalf of Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen, commonly known as al-Shabaab, a Somalia-based terrorist organization affiliated with al-Qaeda.
The group has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department since 2008.
Abdullah’s involvement began in 2015 when he traveled to Somalia and joined al-Shabaab. He underwent approximately one year of military-style training, including instruction in firearms, explosives, and covert operations.
Senior al-Shabaab operatives recruited him for an international operation aimed at executing a mass-casualty attack. In October 2017, Abdullah relocated to the Philippines to attend flight school, where he pursued private and commercial pilot licenses, completing hundreds of hours of classroom instruction, simulator training, and actual flight time.
His tuition and expenses were funded by al-Shabaab through extortion activities in Somalia. By early 2019, he had nearly fulfilled the requirements for a commercial pilot certification, including the instrument rating necessary for employment with major airlines.
During his training, Abdullah communicated progress reports to an al-Shabaab handler, detailing research on cockpit security, airline protocols, transit visas, and methods to smuggle weapons aboard aircraft. He also studied post-September 11, 2001, hijacking attempts.
In January 2019, following an al-Shabaab attack on a hotel complex in Nairobi, Kenya, that killed 21 people, Abdullah accelerated his planning. He conducted online searches for Delta flights and the tallest building in Atlanta, identifying the 55-story, 1,023-foot Bank of America Plaza in downtown Atlanta as the target.
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