ANKARA, Aug 26 (AFP) - Police in eastern Turkey have detained two alleged Kurdish militants on suspicion that they were plotting bomb attacks in major cities, local authorities said Thursday.
The suspects carried detonators and explosive materials when they were captured in an operation at the border between the provinces of Tunceli and Erzincan, the office of the Tunceli governor said in a statement carried by Anatolia news agency.
The agency did not specify when the arrests took place and no one could be reached for comment Thursday at the governor's office.
The two suspects allegedly belonged to the former Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), now known as KONGRA-GEL, and were thought to be planning bomb attacks in the capital Ankara and Istanbul, the statement said.
The PKK, which has waged a 15-year war for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish eastern and southeastern parts of Turkey, called off a unilateral ceasfire with the government on June 1.
Since then the group has been blamed for a series of deadly attacks on security forces as well as the bombing of two hotels in Istanbul earlier this month, in which two people were killed and 11 others, mostly foreign tourists, were injured.
The rebels have threatened more attacks on tourist and economic targets across the country.