Country Reports on Terrorism 2015 - Foreign Terrorist Organizations: Basque Fatherland and Liberty

aka ETA; Askatasuna; Batasuna; Ekin; Euskal Herritarrok; Euzkadi Ta Askatasuna; Herri Batasuna; Jarrai-Haika-Segi; K.A.S.; XAKI

Description: Designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on October 8, 1997, Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) was founded in 1959 with the aim of establishing an independent homeland based on Marxist principles in the Spanish Basque provinces of Vizcaya, Guipuzcoa, and Alava; the autonomous region of Navarre; and the southwestern French territories of Labourd, Lower-Navarre, and Soule.

Activities: ETA has primarily conducted bombings and assassinations. Targets typically include Spanish government officials, businessmen, politicians, judicial figures, and security and military forces; however, the group has also targeted journalists and major tourist areas. ETA is responsible for killing 829 civilians and members of the armed forces and police, and injuring thousands since it formally began its campaign of violence in 1968.

ETA has committed numerous attacks in the last four decades, including the February 2005 car bombing in Madrid that wounded more than 20 people at a convention center where Spanish King Juan Carlos and then-Mexican President Vicente Fox were scheduled to appear. In December 2006, ETA exploded a massive car bomb destroying much of the covered parking garage at Madrid's Barajas International Airport. ETA marked its fiftieth anniversary in 2009 with a series of high profile and deadly bombings, including the July 2009 attack on a Civil Guard Barracks that injured more than 60 men, women, and children.

ETA has not launched any attacks since it announced a "definitive cessation of armed activity" in October 2011. The group, however, had not formally disbanded or given up its weapons arsenal by the end of 2015.

Strength: Since 2004, more than 902 ETA militants have been arrested both in Spain and abroad. It is unknown how many ETA members are still free, but the number is likely to be approximately 10.

Location/Area of Operation: Primarily in the Basque autonomous regions of northern Spain southwestern France, and Madrid. The group has also attacked Spanish and French interests elsewhere.

Funding and External Aid: Between 2007 and 2011, ETA collected 60 million euros at the Herriko Tabernas (bars where members and supporters of ETA meet). ETA is probably experiencing financial shortages given that the group announced publicly in September 2011 that it had ceased collecting "revolutionary taxes" from Basque businesses. This extortion program was a major source of ETA's income in the past. Sources of ETA funding are unknown today.