11 alleged bombers arrested in Sardinia

CAGLIARI, Italy, July 11 (UPI) -- Police on the Italian island of Sardinia say raids Tuesday crippled two separatist groups responsible for 30 bombings.

Eleven men were arrested and explosives and weapons seized in raids on homes across the island, the Italian news agency Ansa reported.

The two groups, the OIR or Separatist Revolutionary Organization and NPC or Proletarian Nuclei for Communism, carried out their first bombing in 2002. Since then, they have targeted courts, newspaper offices and a villa where British Prime Minister Tony Blair was staying as a guest of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Ansa said.

The group has also been blamed for parcel bombs mailed to police stations in Rome. One officer lost several fingers when he opened a package that exploded.

"Today's operation in Sardinia is important because it has finally enabled us to lock up subversive criminals who, while making less of an impact than the Red Brigades, caused a string of incidents over the last few years," said Interior Minister Giuliano Amato.