Vitoria, Spain  - Spanish police detained nine people overnight on charges of cooperating with illegal Basque political formations linked to terrorism, police sources said Friday.

The nine were held in several locations around Spain's northern Basque region.

The detainees were believed to have links with illegal separatist parties including Batasuna, which was banned in 2003 as the political wing of the militant group ETA, and ANV and PCTV, which were outlawed in 2008 as the successors of Batasuna.

The detainees included the spokeswoman of a platform seeking to substitute the outlawed parties in Basque regional elections on March 1, radio reports said.

ETA is held responsible for more than 800 deaths since 1968. (dpa)