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Authorities detain would-be bomber at Istanbul subway

Turkish police thwarted a bomb attack in Istanbul, arresting a 25-year-old man carrying explosives in his backpack outside a subway station, the city's mayor said.

The man was holding more than 3kg of plastic A-4 explosives when he was arrested on Monday in the Sisli District, one of the most crowded areas of the city, Turkish news agencies reported.

TARGET UNKNOWN

Mayor Muammer Guler said it was certain that the man was planning to carry out a bomb attack but that police had not yet determined the suspect's intended target.

He said a man with suspected ties to the suspect was also arrested but did not elaborate.

Guler said police raided an apartment believed to be used as a safe house and seized more explosives and various equipment that could be used to set off a bomb.

He said that a woman and two children living in the apartment were also being questioned.

Police chased the would-be bomber, Guler said. "He may be a member of a separatist terrorist organization," Guler said, adopting a euphemism Turkish officials use to refer to the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK.

OTHER BOMBINGS

Militant Kurdish, leftist and Islamic groups have carried out bombings in big cities and in resort towns in Turkey.

In May, a 28-year-old man convicted of membership in a militant leftist group blew himself up in Turkey's capital, killing six people and injuring dozens.
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