Turkey arrests 'would-be PKK female suicide bomber' in Ankara

Turkey has arrested a female militant affiliated to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) suspected of planning to carry out a suicide attack, a report said Wednesday.
The arrest of the woman in the capital Ankara -- identified as R.I., 21 -- comes after the city was this year rocked by two suicide car bombings claimed by Kurdish militants that left dozens dead.

She was detained by police during a regular traffic inspection at one of the entrances to the city in the Golbasi district, the Dogan news agency reported.

The woman had been the subject of a nationwide search after digitally-stored data was found on a Kurdish militant killed in the southeastern Mardin region that identified her as a potential suicide attacker, Dogan said.

There was no suggestion she had explosives on her when detained.

She was placed under arrest by a criminal court in Ankara ahead of a trial whose date has yet to be set.

It said that the woman had been treated for one-and-a-half months for liver problems in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir before heading for Ankara.

Over 40,000 people have been killed since the PKK took up arms in 1984 demanding a homeland for Turkey's biggest minority. Since then, the group has pared back its demands to focus on cultural rights and a measure of autonomy.

Over 350 members of the Turkish security forces have been killed in bomb and gun attacks by the PKK since a ceasefire collapsed last summer last summer.

A radical PKK splinter group, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), claimed responsibility for two suicide car bombings in Ankara on February 17 and March 13.

Meanwhile, Istanbul has also been rocked by two deadly attacks blamed on Islamic State (IS) jihadists this year that targeted foreigners.
Source :AFP