Turkey arrests 'would-be' PKK 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, Turkey's Dogan new agency reported Wednesday.

The arrest of the woman in the capital Ankara comes after the city was rocked by two suicide car bombings since the start of the year, 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, according to the report.

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.

The PKK launched an insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984, initially fighting for Kurdish independence, although now more for greater autonomy and rights for the country's largest ethnic minority.

The conflict, which has left tens of thousands of people dead, looked like it could be nearing a resolution until an uneasy truce was shattered last July.

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

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

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