Washington: Three members of Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), accused of a scheme to engage in "holy jihad" against Indian forces in Jammu and Kashmir have been sentenced by a US court to prison terms ranging from three to 11 years, following guilty pleas in August to conspiracy and weapons charges.

US district judge Leonie M Brinkema in Alexandria yesterday (Nov 7) sentenced Yong Ki Kwon, 27, a naturalised US citizen of Fairfax, Khwaja Mahmood Hasan, 27, a Pakistani-born US citizen who lived in Alexandria, and Donald T Surratt, 30, a former US soldier of Suitland.

The three men were among 11 named in a 41-count indictment handed up in June in a conspiracy to "prepare for and engage in violent jihad" against foreign targets. Nine of the 11 were identified as US citizens.

Hasan and Kwon could have received life sentences, while Surratt faced up to 15 years. All three have agreed to cooperate with authorities in the Government's ongoing investigation.

US Attorney Paul J McNulty said the men were members of an extremist Muslim group Lashkar-e-Toiba, listed by the State Department in 2001 as a terrorist organization.

He said they "secretly plotted in this community and perversely planned and travelled to camps in Pakistan" to carry out the scheme.

The indictment said the men conspired and trained at shooting ranges and other locations in Maryland and Virginia with AK-47 assault rifles, other military weapons and equipment from early 2000 through May for possible military action in Jammu and Kashmir.

Other training, including military tactics also took place in St Louis and at the Quantico Marine Corps base in Prince William County. Three of the men, including Surratt, are former US military personnel who reportedly assisted in training the others.

At least a dozen homes were searched in raids during the arrests and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents confiscated an assortment of weapons, ammunition and high-powered scopes, along with several unidentified documents.

Authorities said there was no specific information the men planned any attacks in the United States, although the indictment noted they had "an intent to serve in armed hostility against the United States" and that one had an Internet photo of the FBI headquarters building in Washington.

Search warrants in the probe sought "materials relating to any kind of military-style training, jihad, violence against the United States, support of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, and/or any other terrorist group". They also authorised the seizure of literature concerning Lashkar-e-Toiba.

PTI