Ex-YU citizens plotted U.S. Army base attack

Ex-YU citizens plotted U.S. Army base attack

They were scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Camden later Tuesday to face charges of conspiracy to kill U.S. servicemen, said Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey. Five of them lived in Cherry Hill, he said.

"They were planning an attack on Fort Dix in which they conspired to kill as many soldiers as possible," Drewniak said.

A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because documents in the case remain sealed, said the attack was stopped in the planning stages.

Authorities believe the men trained in the Poconos for the attack and also conducted surveillance at other area military institutions, including Fort Monmouth, the official said. The official said that the men had lived in the United States for some time.

The six were arrested trying to buy automatic weapons in a sale set-up by law enforcement authorities, the official said.

State Police Capt. Al Della Fave said Tuesday that the investigation had been in the works for about a year. The arrests were first reported by WNBC-TV in New York.

Jerri Williams, spokeswoman for the FBI in Philadelphia, said U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie and  special agent in charge of the FBI in Philadelphia J.P. Weis would release further information later Thursday.

Five of suspects lived in Cherry Hill, about 10 miles east of Philadelphia and 20 miles southwest of Fort Dix, Drewniak said.

Fort Dix is used to train soldiers, particularly reservists. In 1999, it sheltered more than 4,000 ethnic Albanian refugees during the NATO bombing campaign against then Yugoslavia.

After that war, refugees were allowed to return to Kosovo or seek permanent residency in the United States.