ISTANBUL, Oct 2 (AFP) - Police in Turkey's biggest city Istanbul have detained an alleged Kurdish militant suspected of plotting bomb attacks, while officers in the east of the country have seized explosives thought to belong to Kurdish rebels, the Anatolia news agency reported Saturday.
Istanbul police said in a statement carried by the agency that they had detained a suspect sent to carry out "sensational attacks" in the city after receiving political and military training in camps belonging to the former Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), now known as KONGRA-GEL.
Police also detained seven other suspects -- including two women and two minors -- on suspicion of aiding and abetting the would-be bomber, it said.
Meanwhile, anti-terror police in the eastern province of Van seized nearly 47 kilos (103 pounds) of C-4 plastic explosives, 169 hand grenades and more than 3,000 bullets for Kalashnikov rifles which they said belonged to KONGRA-GEL, Anatolia said.
The cache was found on a truck coming into Van province and its driver was detained.
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 in August, in which two people were killed and 11 others, mostly foreign tourists, were injured.
The group also claimed responsibility for a blast near a concert venue in southern Turkey last month, in which 13 people were injured.
The rebels have threatened more attacks on tourist and economic targets across the country.