A long-time chief of the Basque separatist militant group Eta has been arrested in the French Alps, Spain‘s Interior Ministry said.

Authorities had been looking for Jose Antonio Urruticoetxea Bengoetxea, known by the alias Josu Ternera, since 2002. The 69-year-old is accused of crimes against humanity.

In a statement, the ministry says that Spanish Civil Guard and French intelligence services arrested Ternera early on Thursday in Sallanches, a town of 16,000 in eastern France’s Alps region.

Spanish authorities have accused Ternera of taking part in a 1987 bombing of a Civil Guard police barracks in the city of Zaragoza that killed 11 people and injured five children of Civil Guard officers.

ETA: Attacks by Basque separatist terror group Show all 9 1 /9 ETA: Attacks by Basque separatist terror group ETA: Attacks by Basque separatist terror group A Spanish policeman makes his way through burning cars shortly after a car bomb exploded at the hands of ETA in central Madrid, 29 July 1994 Reuters ETA: Attacks by Basque separatist terror group The scene following the assassination of Spanish Prime Minister Carrero Blanco by ETA members, 20 December 1973 Getty ETA: Attacks by Basque separatist terror group Aftermath of an ETA bombing at Madrid airport in 2006 Enrique Dans ETA: Attacks by Basque separatist terror group Smoke rises following an attack on Madrid airport in 2006 David F. Barrero ETA: Attacks by Basque separatist terror group Policemen search among the damages caused by a bomb attack that killed Spanish Prime Minister Carrero Blanco, 20 December 1973 AFP/Getty ETA: Attacks by Basque separatist terror group Spanish Civil Guard barracks in Burgos following an ETA bombing in July 2009 Bascones ETA: Attacks by Basque separatist terror group Damage at the headquarters of EiTB, a Spanish broadcaster, in Bilbao Misko ETA: Attacks by Basque separatist terror group Aftermath of an ETA bomb attack in Lazkao, Spain An13sa ETA: Attacks by Basque separatist terror group Graffiti of the ETA logo Joxemai

Acting Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez welcomed his arrest: ”Franco-Spanish cooperation once again demonstrated its effectiveness,” he said.

ETA, whose initials stand for “Euskadi ta Askatasuna” or “Basque Homeland and Freedom” in the Basque language, killed more than 850 people during its violent campaign to create an independent state in northern Spain and southern France.

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