Seven ETA suspects held in Spain

An investigator examines a car used by suspects arrested last week

MADRID, Spain -- Spanish police have arrested seven people with alleged links to Basque separatist group ETA and seized a large quantity of explosives, a government spokeswoman said.

The suspects were arrested in Guipuzcoa province on Tuesday in the northern Basque region.

Police found 50kg (110lb) of dynamite as well as detonators, false number plates and forged documents, the spokeswoman told Reuters.

The seven people were detained on suspicion of collaborating with a three-man ETA commando unit, she said.

The members of the commando unit -- who themselves managed to escape -- were responsible for planting car bombs across Spain, police sources told Reuters.

EXTRA INFORMATION In-Depth: The Basque conflict

Police in the Basque country were also searching for several individuals who abandoned a car near a police checkpoint and fled across a field, a Civil Guard spokesman said.

Bomb experts were checking the vehicle to see if it contained any explosives.

Car bombs linked to the Basque group exploded at Madrid's Barajas airport and outside a hotel in the Mediterranean resort of Salou in August.

In July, explosives experts defused a car bomb at Malaga airport in southern Spain.

ETA has been blamed for about 800 deaths since 1968 when it began a campaign for a separate Basque state in northern Spain and southwestern France.