Two Brooklyn residents who sought to go to Syria and join the Islamic State group were charged with conspiring to support the terror group that has taken control of a swath of Iraq and Syria and publicly executed its captives. A third resident of the New York borough was also charged.

The U.S. is leading a coalition of nations in a battle against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, with air attacks on the group's positions.

Recruitment of people in the U.S. to join the terror group "represents an evolving threat to our country and to our allies," Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said in a statement.