ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – Police say a Turkish court has charged 24 suspected al-Qaeda militants accused of planning bomb attacks with membership of a terrorist organization.

Police rounded up the suspects over the past week following a crackdown on an another suspected al-Qaeda cell in January. They are accused of planning attacks in Istanbul if Turkey sends more troops to the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan.

Turkey has 1,200 troops there and says it is not planning to send more.

Police said Saturday the attacks planned were similar to al-Qaeda linked suicide bombings that targeted two synagogues, the British Consulate and a British bank in Istanbul in 2003 and killed 58 people.