United States officials on Friday announced they had arrested eight of 11 people they had charged for their alleged roles in a conspiracy to train to participate in jihad, in Kashmir.

US Attorney Paul McNulty said 11 people had been charged in a 41-count indictment for firearms violations and for joining in a conspiracy against a friendly nation.

"Right here in this community, 10 miles from Capitol Hill in the streets of northern Virginia, American citizens allegedly met, plotted and recruited for violent jihad," McNulty told a news conference.

Five US citizens were arrested in the Virginia area on Friday and a Pakistani national was arrested in Philadelphia. A Yemeni citizen and a naturalized US citizen born in South Korea were already in custody. The three others named in the indictment were believed to be living in Saudi Arabia.

According to the indictment unsealed on Friday, the 11 defendants allegedly obtained weapons, including AK-47-style rifles, and practiced small-unit military tactics in Virginia using paintball weapons and other equipment as part of their preparation.

The indictment said several traveled to Pakistan and trained with Lashkar-e-Tayiba, a group of Kashmir militants.

After the Sept 11, 2001, hijacked airline attacks on the United States, the defendants were told by an 'unindicted co-conspirator' it was time to engage in violent jihad and that American troops were legitimate targets of the holy war, the indictment said. It did not identify the co-conspirator.

"Our success in the nation's war on terrorism depends on our ability to detect terrorist threats and prevent acts of violence," said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher. "When individuals meet here in the shadow of the nation's capital to prepare for violent jihad, we will take action."