ETA weapons
August 25, 2009
Since the arrest of three suspected ETA members one week ago, Spanish and French police have uncovered a total of 12 arms caches and nearly a ton of explosives.
The largest weapons hideout, in the southern French town of Caberolle, contained 190 kilograms (420 pounds) of explosives, 124 detonators, a sub-machine gun and two pistols. The other, in the town of Laucaune Les Baines, is believed to have been used as a workshop for assembling bombs.
Material for making bombs which could be attached to vehicles was also discovered.
Car bomb attacks on the Spanish island of Mallorca earlier this summer were attributed to ETA as the group marked its 50th anniversary fighting for an independent Basque homeland. Two police officers were killed.
ETA has traditionally used southern France as a base to plot its attacks on Spanish targets. Although the seizure of the arms caches is believed to diminish ETA's ability to carry out further attacks, officials warn that it does not rule them out.
Declared a terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States, ETA is accused of killing more than 820 people.
vj/dpa/AP/AFP
Editor: Trinity Hartman