Key dates
1959: Eta is formed during the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco to fight for Basque self-determination.
1968: Eta carries out its first killing.
1980: Eta kills nearly 100 people.
Sept 1985:First Eta car bomb explodes in Madrid. A US tourist is killed and 16 Civil Guards injured.
June 1987: 21 shoppers are killed by a bomb at a Barcelona supermarket.
Nov 2000: Socialist former health minister Ernest Lluch shot dead in Barcelona.
Mar 2006: Eta declares a permanent ceasefire, which comes into force two days later.
Dec 2006: Car bomb explodes at Madrid airport. Two people die.
Nov 2007: Eta claims responsibility for 10 bombings and says it will press its campaign for Basque rights.
Feb 2010: Faction of Eta's banned political wing Batasuna says it wants to pursue peaceful politics.
Feb 28:Eta's leader Ibon Gogeascoechea is captured with two other senior Eta members in Normandy, France.
Sept 5:Eta announces its ceasefire.