Basque separatist group ETA claims responsibility for 21 explosions

The armed Basque separatist group ETA claimed responsibility Wednesday for 21 non-lethal bombings since October. The group made the claim in a communique sent to the Basque pro-independence newspaper Gara, which often serves as a mouthpiece for ETA. The group claimed responsibility for relatively low-intensity bombings against courthouses, post offices, highways, Basque businesses and other targets from Oct. 25 to Dec. 21.

ETA has killed more than 800 people since the late 1960s in its drive for an independent Basque homeland. But it last lethal attack was in May 2003, when it killed two policemen during a car bombing in the northern city of Sanguesa.

Spain's Socialist government says ETA has been severely weakened by several arrests since 2003 and in May offered up talks with the group if it renounced violence, reports the AP. I.L.