Spanish police break up ETA's Bizkaia cell

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Spanish police arrested at least eight presumed members of the armed Basque group ETA. Photo: EFE

Spanish police arrested nine alleged ETA members on Tuesday in dawn raids that dismantled the armed Basque group's most active unit blamed for several recent killings, the government said.

The Interior Ministry said Arkaitz Goikoetxea, alleged leader of the "Bizkaia cell", was among those captured.

The Bizkaia unit is accused of killing 3 civil guard police officers and a Socialist party councillor since ETA called off a ceasefire in June 2007.

Police staged raids in Bilbao, Getxo and Elorrio in the Bizkaia region of the Basque country and in Malaga and Pontevedra during the early hours of Tuesday, Spanish media reported.

The operation was supervised by judge Baltasar Garzon, known for handling Spain's highest profile ETA and civil rights cases, media said.

Police secured the final information they needed to carry out Tuesday's raids after the explosion of four small bombs in Cantabrian holiday resorts in northern Spain on Sunday, media reported.

The attacks on Laredo and Noja, in which no one was hurt, marked the beginning of ETA's traditional summer bombing campaign in Spain's key tourist areas.