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May 8, 2007
Six 'Islamic Radicals' Arrested In Terror Plot Against N.J. Soldiers (Updated)
Updates and link to Dept. of Justice complaint at bottom of post.
Via Newschannel 4 NY, six men from New Jersey believed to be Islamic radicals have been arrested in one of an "alleged" (MSM PC-speak for the Islamothugs have been caught red handed) terror plot against soldiers at Fort Dix.
Investigators said the men planned to use automatic weapons to enter Fort Dix and kill as many soldiers as they could at the N.J. base. Fort Dix was just one of several military and security locations allegedly scouted by this group, authorities said.Not quite "home grown" terrorists, nonetheless, terrorists in our midst!Investigators told Newschannel 4's Jonathan Dienst that these arrests are the result of a tip to the FBI and use of an informant to track the suspects. The terror suspects traveled over the last several months from New Jersey to the Poconos where they practiced firing automatic weapons, investigators said.
Investigators said the group discussed targeting numerous locations like Dover Air base, Fort Monmouth and several Coast Guard stations before deciding on Fort Dix as their intended target. Fort Dix is run in part by the Army and is a reserve-training center, but active units take part in training, including some which focuses on counter-terrorism.
It is not clear how far along the alleged terror plot was, or when investigators first learned about it. Investigators said the group of suspects have been discussing and planning for much of the last year. They allegedly pooled their savings to pay for the operation that investigators said targeted soldiers stationed here at home.
The six suspects arrested Monday night will face terror conspiracy charges. Three of the men are brothers, all believed to be islamic radicals. Authorities have told Newschannel 4 that some of the men were born in Albania and the former Yugoslavia. Investigators said most of the suspects have spent several years here in the U.S.
In update, NBC10 reports that five of them were arrested in Cherry Hill, and that the men planned to use AK-47s to storm Fort Dix and open fire on soldiers and civilians stationed at the New Jersey base, noting that other military locations were scouted by the terrorist cell. Some of the suspects are said to have reviewed training films from Afghanistan that "allegedly" showed them how to carry out terror attacks.
Update 2 via CNN:
The men, some of whom were related to each other, had been doing surveillance and planning "for a while," and they trained in the Poconos Mountains in northeastern Pennsylvania, according to the federal law enforcement source.Fortunately for the soldiers and civilians at Fort Dix, these Islamothugs are almost like the gang that couldn't shoot straight.
They played paintball and test-fired weapons, a law enforcement source said.
New Jersey state troopers and the FBI were involved in investigating and arresting the suspects. An informant played a key role in the investigation, the sources said.
One of the sources said there is a video and an audiotape of the planning.
The Newark Star-Ledger reported on its Web site that the men took a videotape of their practice sessions to a store to have it burned to a DVD, and that a store employee contacted the FBI because of the video's contents.
Post press conference update: After just now listening to the press conference on CNN, and reading the "Justice Department Complaint in Alleged Fort Dix Terror Plot," it is very apparent that, as I said in the below comment section, these Islamothugs have been caught 25 different ways from Sunday. The investigation has been going on for almost 2 years!
1:10PM update from Star-Ledger in New Jersey (hat tip - Confederate Yankee): The bust came after several of the suspects were lured by a secret informant to a meeting with an arms-seller:
Officials identified the men as Dritan Duka, 28, Eljvir Duka, 23, Shain Duka, 26, Serdar Tatar, 23, Mohamad Shnewer, 22, and Agron Abdullahu, 24. They are described as being in their early 20s.
The six had been under FBI surveillance for 15 months and prepared for their alleged plot by shooting paintball guns and real weapons in Gouldsboro, Pa., 30 miles southeast of Scranton, officials said. One had experience as a sniper in Kosovo, according to the complaint.
The men also allegedly watched jihadist videos in which Osama bin Laden urged them toward martyrdom.
"They were prepared to die," said a law enforcement source who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the arrests. "We became increasingly convinced this was for real and these guys were ready to roll."
The men had scouted out Fort Monmouth, Dover Air Force Base, Lakehurst Naval Air Station and the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard before settling on Fort Dix, a base that is used to mobilize troops to Iraq, according to the complaint. One of them, Tatar, had regular access to secure areas of the facility through his job as a deliveryman and knew "it like the palm of his hand," according to the complaint. (Edit: Delivering pizza from his family's business)
The men - several of whom are relatives - had videotaped their practice sessions in Pennsylvania, according to the complaint. That videotape, in which they fired assault weapons and railed against America, led to their arrests.
They made the mistake of bringing it to a retail store, seeking to get a copy burned to a DVD, according to the complaint. A store employee who later watched the tape called the FBI who began immediately investigating.
... As they allegedly prepared for the attack, the men watched videos depicting armed assaults of U.S. military personnel at an undisclosed location, according to the complaint, which cited a federal witness who infiltrated the group.
The witness noted that Shnewer "seemed to enjoy watching the videos and smiled during the viewing." Files in his computer contained what appear to be the last will and testament of two hijackers involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, officials said.
... A high school friend of Eljir and Shain Duka recalled them as typical teenagers. More to come ...
Cross posted from Hyscience
Posted by Richard at May 8, 2007 7:28 AM
