ANKARA, Oct 13 (AFP) - Police detained nine suspected Kurdish rebels and seized seven kilos (15.5 pounds) of C-4 plastic explosives in simultaneous raids in three Turkish cities, the Anatolia news agency reported Wednesday.
The operation came after police received intelligence that members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), now known as KONGRA-GEL, were planning bomb attacks in urban centers, including the eastern city of Elazig.
The suspects were detained in Elazig, neighbouring Tunceli and Istanbul, Turkey's biggest city, the agency said.
The PKK, which has waged a 15-year war for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish east and southeast of Turkey, on June 1 called off a ceasefire it had proclaimed unilaterally following the 1999 arrest in Kenya of its founder and leader, Abdullah Ocalan.
Since the end of the ceasefire, the group has been blamed for a series of deadly attacks on security forces and the bombings in August of two hotels in Istanbul, 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 economic and touristic targets across the country.