Al-Shabaab pilot may be planning attack in Kenya

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Al-Shabaab pilot may be planning attack in Kenya

MOGADISHU (HORN OBSERVER ) - Al-Shabaab pilot who was trained in Philippines wants to carry out an aviation attack in Kenyan soil, Kenya police warn on Tuesday.

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Photo of Rashid Mwalimu released by the Kenyan Police

MOGADISHU (HORN OBSERVER ) - Al-Shabaab pilot who was trained in Philippines wants to carry out an aviation attack in Kenyan soil, Kenya police warn on Tuesday.

Kenyan security agencies have released a photo of an Alshabaab pilot they described as armed and dangerous.

Rashid Mwalimu has the expertise to conduct an international aviation attack having studied aviation at All-Aisa aviation Academy in the Philippines. pic.twitter.com/BatqZVFYUO
— Kenya Alerts (@kenyanspider) March 30, 2021

In a statement, Kenyan security agencies said Rashid Mwalimu, a Kenya who was radicalized by al-Shabaab is suspected to be planning to sneak in Kenya to execute attacks.

In a statement, Kenyan security agencies said, a terror suspected who underwent a pilot training course in the Philippines alongside an accomplice Cholo Abdi Abdulla is feared to be planning to sneak in the country.

” Indeed, they had already completed their training and were conversant with flying and landing planes and all mechanical application in a plane though they had not acquired international licences. However, for a successful attack, all they needed to do was board a plane as ordinary passengers and thus licences would not be a hindrance to an attack.” the police statement reads in part.

The statement said Mwalimu who is currently in Somalia should be considered armed and dangerous; he is a trained pilot who is on a mission to carry an aviation attack on behalf of the terror group al-Shabaab.

According to United States (US) authorities on 16th December 2020, Cholo is facing six counts of terrorism- related offences arising from his activities as an Al Shabaab member, including conspiring to hijack an aircraft to conduct a 9/11 style of attack in the US. He was transferred to the custody of US law enforcement for prosecution.

A security source has revealed that they were also close associates of the leader of the Dusti-D2 attack, in Kenya Salim Gichunge aka Faruq, and that between 2015 and 2016 both Rashid and Cholo were involved in IED attacks in Boni area of Lamu County.

"Rashid, Cholo and Gichunge arrived in Somalia at the same time and were immediately set aside for training as part of the Al Shabaab intelligence, the Amniyat. While on training, they met up with OSMAN GEDI, another DUSIT D2 attacker,” the police said. "The four formed a close bond and were always together. When the airstrikes began in earnest, Al Shabaab picked on the four for external attack. GICHUNGE and GEDI were selected for an attack in Kenya, while RASHID and CHOLO were picked to train as pilots and subsequently be deployed to hijack aircrafts.”

The warning comes barely a month after the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) said the advisory is consistent with the fact that Somalia-based terrorist group, Al-Shabaab remains in possession of weapons capable of hitting aircraft at low altitudes of up to 25,000 feet.