Turkish police arrest 15 al-Qaida suspects

• Tweet

ANKARA, Turkey, April 21 (UPI) -- Turkish police arrested 15 people suspected of ties to al-Qaida after being warned they were planning to attack foreign targets, officials said.

Arrests were made in several provinces following warnings from U.S. intelligence officials and Interpol that al-Qaida was developing attacks on foreign targets, and that followers were being trained to use biological weapons, the Kuwaiti news agency KUNA reported Tuesday.

Turkish authorities accused al-Qaida followers of planning the 2003 attacks that targeted two synagogues, the British Consulate and HSBC Bank in Istanbul, killing 63 people.

In 2007, seven people were sentenced to life in prison for the attacks.