Police in southwestern France said on Thursday they had arrested three suspected members of the Basque separatist group ETA after a car chase overnight.
The three, two men and a woman, all on France's wanted list, had been arrested after trying to force a police checkpoint. At least one of the men used a firearm against police during the chase, police said. They did not reveal the identities of those arrested.
France has been on alert for suspected ETA members after last week identifying two suspected members of the group as the gunmen who shot and seriously injured French policemen in southwestern France. It was not clear whether those arrested overnight were in any way related to that attack.
ETA has killed more than 800 people since 1968 when it began its armed struggle for the independence of the Basque country from Spain.
Spanish commentators said two gun attacks against French policemen by suspected ETA members recently could signal a brutal change of tactics by ETA in its traditional "sanctuary" in southwestern France.
Experts say the latest shootings were significant because they could signal a new campaign of ETA attacks outside Spain – France (AFP)
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