Spain said security forces had arrested the head of Basque militant separatist group ETA in south-western France on Saturday in a joint operation between the French domestic intelligence service and Spanish police, reports Reuters.
Mikel Irastorza was detained in a house in Ascain, a village near the Pyrénées mountains, the Spanish interior ministry said in a statement, adding that the 41-year-old leader of the illegal organization had been on the run since 2008.
Irastorza had led ETA for just over a year since the arrests of two previous leaders in France last year, the ministry said.
"(The arrest) is a crushing blow to ETA, removing its leadership and eliminating the part that controlled arms and explosives," it said, adding that the operation remained open.
French and Spanish media reported that Irastorza is being held in the French city of Bayonne.
ETA, which does not normally comment in such situations, was formed in the late 1950s during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco and aims to establish an independent Basque state in northern Spain and southern France.
The group killed over 800 people over several decades through bombings and execution-style killings.