ETA suspects held after gunfight

BORDEAUX, France -- Police have arrested three suspected members of ETA after a gunfight in south-western France.

Police said they detained two men and a woman in Auch after they drove through a police road block shortly after midnight, triggering a chase that ended when their car skidded into a ditch.

A gun battle followed in which one of the men was injured in the arm.

The wounded man was named by police as Inaki Lizundia Alvarez, who has been on the run for five years and is a suspected ETA commando.

An investigation has been opened into the arrests, which come on the heels of two similar incidents in nearby Pau, which left one policeman seriously injured.

EXTRA INFORMATION In-Depth: The Basque conflict

Police said the weapon used by the suspects was the same as those used in the previous incidents, suggesting a deliberate policy by ETA members to use arms to evade arrest.

ETA's campaign for independence for the Basque country of northern Spain and south-west France has been linked to around 800 deaths in Spain in the last 30 years.

Observers say the latest incident is likely to add fuel to a nationwide protest by thousands of gendarmes over pay and working conditions that continued for a third day on Thursday.

The latest arrests have also raised fears the Basque separatist group is increasingly active on French soil.