LONDON — A British man has been accused in court of planning an attack against U.S. military personnel in Britain.

Junead Ahmed Khan, 24, is suspected of planning to run over a U.S. serviceman with a car, prosecutors said Tuesday. BBC reported that a serviceman from one of the East Anglia air force bases could have been targeted in an attack similar to the one in which Fusilier Lee Rigby was killed two years ago.

Junead Ahmed Khan is also charged, along with 22-year-old uncle Shazib Ahmed Khan, of planning to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State group. The two men appeared in Westminster Magistrates' Court accused of planning various acts of terrorism.

Prosecutors said the men had looked into the possibility of buying combat gear before traveling to Syria to join extremists there. It's a violation of British law for Britons to go to Syria intending the help the militants, who control parts of Syria and Iraq.

Police said the two have been charged with two counts of being involved in preparation with the intention to commit acts of terrorism. The first count, against both men, accuses them of preparing acts of terrorism between Aug. 1, 2014 and May 10, 2015. They will be kept in custody until their next court hearing at the Old Bailey on Aug. 10.

“Following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service’s SO15, we have concluded that there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to charge Junead Khan and Shazib Khan with the intention of committing acts of terrorism," the Crown Prosecution Service said earlier Tuesday in a statement about the two men. “It is alleged that Junead Khan and Shazib Khan had been planning on travelling to Syria to join the proscribed organisation Islamic State in Levant (ISIL). “It is further alleged that Junead Khan was planning a terrorist attack on U.S. military personnel in the UK and he has been charged with an additional terrorism offence to reflect this."

The men were arrested last week in Luton, which is 30 miles (50 km) north of London. A third man who had been arrested on suspicion of terrorism at the same time has been released without being charged. He has not been named. The two are expected to appear on Tuesday afternoon at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

British officials say some 700 Britons have traveled to Syria in support of the militant group.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.

