Washington, Sep 17 (IANS/EFE): US officials have accused a Yemeni man with American citizenship of recruiting militants to fight in the ranks of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group in Syria and Iraq and attack military and Shia Muslim targets in the US.

Mufid A. Elfgeeh, 30, of Rochester, New York, was arrested in May for buying two handguns with silencers to fire at members of the US military returning home from the Middle East.

He was also planning to shoot at Shia Muslims living in northwestern New York state, the US Justice Department said in a statement.

Elfgeeh was under investigation for months by FBI undercover informants and was arrested when he tried to buy the weapons.

According to authorities, Elfgeeh attempted to convince two of the informants and a third person in Yemen to travel to Syria to join the IS.

Elfgeeh attracted FBI interest a year ago when he began to publish messages in support of the jihadis on Twitter, including a call for people to donate one-third of their salaries to the movement.

US Attorney General Eric Holder said Elfgeeh never managed to follow through with his plans and at no time represented a serious public threat.

The recruitment of Western citizens to fight alongside the IS is one of the major concerns of the US and European governments as these people could return to home countries and carry out attacks.