By Hermione Gee
Published on •Updated
Basque separatists ETA say it has "completely dissolved" all its structures
After a 50-year campaign to create an independent state in northern Spain and southwest France, the Basque separatist group ETA has announced that it has disbanded and ceased all activity.
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In a recent letter sent to online newspaper El Diario, the group said it had completely dismantled all its structures.
ETA declared a ceasefire in 2011 and handed over its weapons in April 2017, bringing Western Europe's last major armed insurgency to a close.
Founded in 1959 out of anger and frustration from political repression under Spain's then dictator, General Franco, It launched a campaign that included assassinations and bombings aimed at the Spanish state, which killed more than 800 people.