Federal authorities say four Southern California men have been charged with plotting to kill Americans overseas and in the United States by joining al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller says the defendants are under arrest for plotting to bomb government facilities and public places.

According to the federal complaint unsealed Monday during initial appearances, 34-year-old Sohiel Omar Kabir introduced two other California men to the radical Islamist doctrine of Anwar al Awlaki, a deceased al Qaeda leader.

Authorities allege Kabir traveled to Afghanistan and communicated with the two — 23-year-old Ralph Deleon and 21-year-old Miguel Alejandro Santana Vidriales — so he could arrange for their travel to join him and meet with his contacts for terror organizations. They later recruited 21-year-old Arifeen David Gojali.

The complaint says Deleon and Santana told an FBI source of their plans to engage in "violent jihad."