Two women, who are roommates from Queens, New York, were arrested Thursday by the FBI on terror related charges, NBC reports.
The women, 28-year-old Noelle Velentzas and 31-year-old Asia Siddiqui, are U.S. citizens and are now charged with conspiring to set off an explosive device within the United States.
Both suspects, according to NBC 4 New York , allegedly conversed online about potential targets. However, no specific terror plot surfaced, one official noted. An undercover informant was part of the counter-terror operation, officials told reporters.
A complaint unsealed in the Federal District Court in Brooklyn revealed Siddiqui allegedly had bomb making materials in her possession. The complaint states she “is currently in possession of multiple propane gas tanks, as well as instructions for how to transform propane tanks into explosive devices.”
According to The New York Times, the complaint also states both women seemed to have an interest in jihad and were in communication with individuals associated with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and watched videos of ISIS beheadings.
The arrests comes on the heels of three Brooklyn residents who were charged with attempt and conspiracy to provide material to ISIS in late February. According to the FBI, two of the individuals charged, Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev and Akhror Saidakhmetov, “devised a plan to travel to Turkey and then to Syria for the purpose of waging jihad on behalf of ISIL.”
Additionally, in an August 2014 Internet posting, “Juraboev offered to kill the President of the United States if ordered to do so by ISIL. More recently, Saidakhmetov expressed his intent to buy a machine gun and shoot police officers and FBI agents if thwarted in his plan to join ISIL in Syria,” the FBI said.
