The FBI arrested five people in Cherry Hill and one in Pennsylvania last night for an alleged plot to kill soldiers at Fort Dix, three federal officials said.

Some of the six men, who are believed to be from Albania or other Balkan countries, tried to purchase automatic weapons from a local gun dealer, sources said.

Greg Reinhert, a Justice Department spokesman in Camden, described the six as "Islamic radicals ... who were involved in a plot to kill U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix in New Jersey."

"Their alleged intention was to conduct an armed assault on the army base and to kill as many soldiers as possible," he said.

"These guys were absolutely serious," another official said.

Carolee Nisbet, a public information officer at Fort Dix, said: "I understand that they weren't just targeting Fort Dix, that it was a multiple-base plan to attack several bases in the Northeast." She declined to elaborate.

three of the men are brothers, and have lived in the United States for several years.