Terror group planning Costa bombings
Spanish police have seized a large cache of explosives which the Basque terror group ETA planned to use to attack Costa tourist targets during next week’s EU heads of state summit.
Interior Minister Mariano Rajoy said 288 pounds of dynamite and other explosive material, along with several boxes of detonators, were found in woods near the Mediterranean city of Valencia, two days after the capture of a suspected ETA member in the area.
Rajoy said the material was going to be used in attacks on tourist spots along the Mediterranean coast ahead of next week’s EU summit in Seville, 280 miles from Valencia.
The minister said ETA wanted to launch a series of attacks several days before the June 21 start of the summit to "create a sense of chaos" at the meeting while also damaging Spain’s tourism industry.
Last month, Spanish police claimed they thwarted a major terrorist attack by ETA during a summit of Latin American and European leaders after discovering a stash of explosives in Madrid. That summit took place without violent attacks.
Rajoy said the seizure was linked to the recent detention of another four suspected ETA members in France who were also planning to strike tourist targets in Spain.
Police in the Basque region arrested two women in pre-dawn raids today ordered by a judge battling ETA.
Judge Baltasar Garzon ordered the arrests on the basis of information obtained from two ETA suspects arrested in France last week.
ETA has been fighting for an independent Basque homeland in the North West of Spain since 1968 in a campaign of bombings and shootings that has left more than 800 people dead.
