Dates of operation 1979 (1979)–1980 (1980) Motives Opposing Basque independence and Basque nationalism (including moderate nationalists). Ideology FascismSpanish unionismSpanish nationalismFrancoism Notable attacks Alonsotegi massacreMurder of Tomás Alba Irazusta. | ||
Grupos Armados Españoles (Spanish for Spanish Armed Groups; GAE) was a Spanish right-wing paramilitary Spanish nationalist and parapolicial group active from 1979 to 1980, primarily in the Southern Basque Country. A report by the Office for Victims of Terrorism of the Basque Government in June 2010 attributed 6 murders in the Basque Autonomous Community to the group, and linked it to the Spanish police, SECED and Guardia Civil.
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Killings attributed to the GAE
This list may be incomplete, because many of their attacks were never claimed. Additionally the acronyms GAE and others (Guerrilleros de Cristo Rey, Anti Terrorismo ETA or ATE, Primera Línea de Fuerza Nueva, Batallón Vasco Español, Alianza Apóstolica Anticomunista or Triple A and, later, GAL and GANE) seem to have been indistinctly used by the same Spanish nationalist networks capriciously.Alleged links with the repressive apparatus of the Spanish State
The report of the Office of Victims of Terrorism of the Basque Government (2010) said that the GAE was a well organized right-wing group, that "acted with a high level of tolerance, when no complicity with important sectors of the police apparatus of the time", while acknowledging that" and criticized the impunity and lack of investigation about group actions.