Seven US men have been charged with conspiring to provide support to Islamic militants and conspiring to murder and kidnap people abroad, BBC reported.
Officials say one of the men, Daniel Boyd, 39, trained in Afghanistan and fought there between 1989 and 1992.
When he returned to the US, he recruited others to engage in terrorism and provided weapons training, the Justice Department alleged.
The men were arrested by the FBI in the Raleigh, North Carolina, area.
There has been no reported response from the defendants.
"The indictment alleges that Daniel Boyd is a veteran of terrorist training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan who, over the past three years, has conspired with others in this country to recruit and help young men travel overseas in order to kill," said David Kris, of the US Department of Justice.
According to the indictment, from late 2006 until at least July 2009, Mr Boyd and the other defendants engaged in a conspiracy to advance violent jihad abroad.
They arranged weapons training, funding and travel for others who wished to fight overseas, the indictment alleges.
It says Mr Boyd and several other defendants travelled to Israel in June 2007 in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to engage in violent jihad.
Another defendant, Ziyad Yaghi, 21, allegedly travelled to Jordan in October 2006 to commit violent acts.
The defendants allegedly practiced military tactics in North Carolina in June and July 2009.
All seven of the men face life sentences if convicted conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons abroad.