FBI says it foiled a New Year's Eve terrorist plot in Southern California

A suspected New Year's Eve terrorist plot by an extremist group has been foiled by federal authorities in Los Angeles, officials say.

Four suspected members of the Turtle Island Liberation Front - an offshoot of a pro-Palestinian anti-government group - have been arrested on suspicion of planning a coordinated bomb attack at at least five locations across Southern California, the FBI and Los Angeles law enforcement said on Monday, the BBC reports.

The suspects were captured last week while traveling to the desert east of Los Angeles to test improvised explosive devices.

The FBI believes it has "disrupted the plot", but an investigation to identify other possible suspects is ongoing.