Twin brothers with alleged ties to the Islamic State were indicted Monday in South Africa on charges of conspiring to blow up the United States Embassy and Jewish institutions in the country, according to police.
South African authorities also arrested two suspected accomplices, a brother and a sister, in connection to the plot. They face charges related to weapons possession, the New York Times reported.
BREAKING: South African authorities arrest four individuals who planned to attack the U.S. embassy and Jewish institutions and to join ISIS.
— Avi Mayer (@AviMayer) July 11, 2016
The four suspects, who authorities had been investigating for 10 months, were arrested Saturday after South African investigators found ammunition and grenades in one of the suspect’s homes.
The twin brothers, Brandon-Lee Thulsie and Tony-Lee Thulsie, 23, appeared in Johannesburg Central Magistrate’s Court on Monday to be charged with "conspiracy and incitement to commit the crime of terrorism." They are set to appear again in court on July 19.
Hangwani Mulaudzi, a spokesman for South Africa’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, said the twin brothers were planning to attack the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, the nation’s capital, along with an unidentified "Jewish building."
The brothers were also arrested on charges of attempting to fly to Syria to fight on behalf of ISIS.
"Such conspiracy and incitement was intended to cause and spread feelings of terror, fear, or panic in the civilian population of South Africa, and particular the U.S. and Jewish sector thereof and to intimidate the government of the United States of America," the indictment read, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Authorities said the plot was motivated by the political, religious, and ideological motivations that ISIS advertises.