Backpack filled with explosives found in Basque country

A backpack filled with explosives has been found near a town in the French Basque country, police there said today.

A passer-by found the backpack, which was partially buried, in a mountainous area outside the village of Souraide – near the Spanish border – and alerted authorities, police officials said.

It was not immediately clear who left the backpack, and police investigators refused to immediately implicate the armed Basque group, Eta.

Eta, an acronym for Basque Homeland and Freedom in the Basque language, has been waging a violent campaign since the late 1960s for an independent state. Although mainly active in Spain, the group is also present in the Basque region of southern France.

The group was thought to be behind a car bomb attack on Friday, outside a police station in the Spanish Basque country, which destroyed several cars and injured two officers.