Five Americans who had been recruited by the Taliban to carry out terror attacks in Pakistan are due to appear in a Pakistani Court.

One of them is said to be of Eritrean origin and could face a life sentence on terror charges. The five men are from the Wahington DC area and were reported missing for a while.

The case has revealed how easy it is for anyone to join militant jihad through cyber channels, a worrying reality for Pakistan, already struggling on the ground to contain a Taliban insurgency. Pakistani Police arrested the men early in December after discovering their e-mail correspondence with the Taliban.

US officials said they were wanted by the FBI and had gone missing in the US state of Virginia in November. Their families reported them missing after finding a farewell video message, showing scenes of war and calling for Muslims to be defended.

The men hold US passports. Two of them are Pakistani-Americans, while the remaining three are of Eritrean, Ethiopian and Egyptian origin, officials said. Police said laptops, mobile phones and maps of Pakistani cities were recovered from the property during the operation.

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