The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested four terrorists in New York City after they bought what they thought were explosives and a Stinger missile to be used to blow up two synagogues and shoot down a plane at a nearby National Guard base.
The four men are from New York City and bear American names but told authorities they are linked with terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The FBI is still investigating their backgrounds.
The cell had been under surveillance for a year and bought phony explosives from FBI agents, who also sold them a fake Stinger missile. The men planned to place the would-be bombs in front of the Riverdale Temple in the Bronx and under parked cars as well as blow up the Riverdale Jewish Center.
An informer from a mosque helped authorities track the cell, which was arrested after New York policemen blocked the terrorists’ black SUV parked outside the temple, broke in the windows and handcuffed the suspects.
The alleged ringleader was James Cromitie, who the New York Daily News reported is the son of an Afghan immigrant and has a criminal record. His three accomplices were jailhouse converts to Islam.