Six men have been arrested in America accused of plotting to "kill as many soldiers as possible" in a machine gun attack on a US Army base, according to law enforcement officials.

The men, described as "Islamic radicals" by prosecutors, were detained late last night after more than a year of surveillance by the FBI, according to the Newark Star-Ledger. Four of the suspects were born in the former Yugoslavia, one in Jordan and one in Turkey.

They are alleged to have been planning an assault on Fort Dix, a US Army base in New Jersey that has trained troops to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. They were arrested after being lured to buy AK-47 assault rifles from an FBI informant, reports said.

“They were plotting to make an assault on Fort Dix with the intention of killing as many US soldiers as possible,” said Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the US Attorney’s office in Newark, New Jersey.

Law enforcement officials told the Star-Ledger that the men had been inspired by Islamist militants to film themselves training with paintball guns and real weapons in the Poconos mountains in north east Pennsylvania. They then reportedly made the mistake of having DVDs made by a retail outlet in which they spoke of their hatred for America.

The DVD shop then called the FBI which started watching the men. Five of the men are from Cherry Hill, about 20 miles south west of Fort Dix. Several of the accused are believed to belong to the same family.

"They were prepared to die," the law enforcement official told the newspaper. "We became increasingly convinced this was for real and these guys were ready to roll."

Mr Drewniak said that the six men were scheduled to appear in federal court in Camden, New Jersey, later today charged with conspiring to kill US servicemen. He said the alleged attack was believed to be in the planning stages.

The White House said there was no evidence to suggest that the men had links to foreign terror groups.

“They are not charged with being members of an international terrorism organisation,” said Tony Snow, the White House press secretary.

"However, their involvement in weapons training, operational surveillance and discussions about killing American military personnel warranted a strong law enforcement response.”

Fort Dix, a US Army base that is home to 15,000 people, is next door to McGuire Air Force Base, which has about 11,500 people on site. Both bases, placed on high alert, have been involved both America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Fort Dix also housed 4,000 ethnic Albanian refugees during the Nato bombing campaign against Kosovo in 1999.

After that war, refugees were allowed to return to the UN-administered province to seek permanent residency in the United States. The future of Kosovo, whose independence is strongly opposed by Serbia but supported by the EU and the US, is currently being decided by the UN Security Council.

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