Spanish police seized a cache of explosives on Sunday in an operation against the armed Basque separatist group ETA one week before a Basque regional election. The early-morning raid in Hernani, near San Sebastian in northern Spain was linked to the arrest in the past three weeks of six suspected members of an ETA cell, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. Police explosives experts found 49 kg (110 lbs) of dynamite, chemicals, and bomb-making equipment such as detonators and timers in a storeroom in a block of flats, the ministry said. ETA is branded as a terrorist group by Spain, the European Union and the United States, and has killed nearly 850 people since 1968 in a campaign for Basque independence. It continues to carry out regular bombings, often aimed at Spain's tourist industry, but has not staged a fatal attack for nearly two years amid a sustained clampdown in Spain and France during which hundreds of suspected members have been arrested. The Interior Ministry said Sunday's explosives find was part of an operation that began on March 25 with the arrest of three suspected ETA members and the seizure of three pistols and an automatic rifle. The ministry said that operation, and the arrest of three more ETA suspects on April 7, smashed ETA's newly activated "Donosti" cell. The Basque elections on April 17 are focused on regional premier Juan Jose Ibarretxe's plan for virtual independence from Madrid -- a plan strongly opposed by the main Spanish parties.
