Planned Fort Hood Attack Leads to Arrest of Three Soldiers

Three soldiers connected to an alleged plot to plant explosives at Fort Hood in Texas were arrested on Wednesday, several news outlets reported.

Pvt. Nasser Jason Abdo, who had gone missing after returning from an Afghanistan tour on July 4, was arrested after being discovered with "explosives and jihadist materials," a senior Army official told Fox News. Abdo reportedly made statements threatening to attack Fort Hood. Two additional soldiers were also arrested, but their names were not yet available.

The arrest is likely to conjure fears of another attack on the military base after a November 2009 shooting rampage that left 13 dead and wounded 30 others. Maj. Nadal Hasan, a military psychologist, is currently on trial and facing the death penalty.

Hasan's attorney, John Galligan, had sought to spare Hasan from the death penalty, and told The Associated Press that the Army as an institution has long been planning" to charge Hasan in a military court. Hasan is paralyzed from the waist down from an injury sustained during the shooting.

As people scrambled for answers in the aftermath of the shooting, a picture emerged of Hasan feeling increasingly isolated from the military and dismayed by the descriptions returning soldiers gave of their experiences overseas. In a 2007 Powerpoint presentation, he warned that it was becoming increasingly difficult "for Muslims in the service to morally justify being in a military that seems constantly engaged against fellow Muslims." Investigators found that Hasan had sent as many as 20 e-mails to the radical cleric Anwar al Awlaki.