Seven North Carolinians charged with participating in a terror plot

Washington, July 28 (ANI): Seven North Carolina men were arrested and charged on Monday with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists overseas.

It is unclear whether the group is connected to Al Qaeda or some other overseas radical group. No such group is identified in the 14-page indictment that was unsealed on Monday.

According to the Christian Science Monitor (CSM), federal authorities also charged the men with plotting to murder, kidnap, and maim individuals overseas as part of a plan to wage what prosecutors said was "violent jihad."

It is unclear who the intended victims of the group might be, as no precise plot has been identified in the indictment beyond a broad goal of waging "violent jihad."

Daniel Patrick Boyd, the lead defendant, is an alleged "veteran of terrorist training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan."

Officials alleged that he conspired for three years to recruit young men to travel overseas for jihad.

"These charges hammer home the point that terrorists and their supporters are not confined to the remote regions of some faraway land but can grow and fester right here at home," said US Attorney George Holding.

The seven men appeared in federal court in Raleigh, North Carolina, and were ordered held without bond pending a detention hearing set for Thursday.

According to the indictment, Boyd traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan where he "received military-style training in terrorist training camps for the purpose of engaging in violent jihad."

The indictment says this training took place between 1989 and 1992.

Specifically, the indictment says Boyd and his son, Zakariya Boyd, traveled to Gaza in March 2006, where the elder Boyd "attempted to enter Palestine in order to introduce his son to individuals who also believed that violent jihad was a personal obligation."

Boyd and his son traveled to Tel Aviv, Israel, on June 12, 2007. They returned to the US a month later, according to the indictment, "having failed in their attempt to engage in violent jihad."

Boyd is also charged with lying to US officials about his travel plans and with purchasing a number of rifles and other firearms.

If convicted, the defendants face up to life in prison. (ANI)