“We do not have any evidence at this time that they are connected directly to any other international terrorist movement around the world,” Mr. Christie said. “But clearly they used the Internet to obtain this jihadist material, which they used as both educational and inspirational for their cause.”

The complaint included an affidavit from John J. Ryan, a special agent with the F.B.I., which said that a cooperating witness infiltrated the group and last year recorded some of their conversations. During one of those meetings, the witness recorded Mr. Shnewer as saying that he, Mr. Tatar, Mr. Duka, Eljvir Duka and Shain Duka were part of a group that was planning to attack a United States military base, and specifically mentioned Fort Dix. At other meetings they watched videos of American soldiers being attacked overseas and footage of Osama bin Laden, officials said.

“During one meeting they watched the blowing off of the arm of a United States marine and the room burst out into laughter,” Mr. Christie said. “These are the types of people we are dealing with.”

In the complaint, Mr. Shnewer was quoted as saying that they could kill “at least 100 soldiers” using rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons, and that the witness was urged to help lead the attack because he had prior experience in the Egyptian military. They would use a map procured by Mr. Tatar, who used to deliver pizza there, the affidavit said, and the attack would begin with a strike that would cause a power outage.

Image Credit... The New York Times

“They wanted to do this to make it easier for them to kill as many American soldiers as possible,” Mr. Christie said today. Mr. Shnewer also conducted surveillance of other facilities, including the Army base at Fort Monmouth, N.J.; the Dover Air Base in Delaware, and the Coast Guard building in Philadelphia, officials said. Dritan Duka, Eljvir Duka and Shain Duka collected weapons including handguns, shotguns and semi-automatic assault weapons, and trained on firearms in the Poconos region of Pennsylvania. The three men and Mr. Shnewer reviewed terrorist training videos. In addition, he and Dritan Duka ordered AK-47 machine guns.Another witness recorded a conversation in which Mr. Tatar was said to have wanted to join the Army so he could kill American soldiers from the “inside,” the statement said.

All the while, as the men made trips to the Poconos and trained and planned for the attacks, they had no idea they were under surveillance, Mr. Christie said.