'Would-be bomber' stopped in Istanbul

Turkish police thwarted a bomb attack in Istanbul today, arresting a 25-year-old man with explosives in his backpack outside an underground station, the city’s governor said.

The man was carrying more than 7lb of plastic A-4 explosives when he was arrested in the Sisli district, one of the most crowded areas of the city, Turkish news agencies reported.

Muammer Guler said it was certain the man was planning to carry out a bomb attack but that police had not yet determined the intended target. He said a man with suspected ties to the suspect was also arrested but did not elaborate.

Police raided an apartment believed to be used as a safe house and seized more explosives and various equipment, Guler said. He said a woman and two children living in the apartment were being questioned.

Police chased the would-be bomber, Guler said. “He may be a member of a separatist terrorist organisation,” he said, adopting a euphemism Turkish officials use to refer to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or the PKK.

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

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