Spanish police have arrested three suspected members of al-Qaeda, the government says.

The men allegedly had explosives and were thought to be planning an attack in Spain or elsewhere in Europe. Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz told a news conference on Thursday the arrests followed a major investigation.

“There is a clear indication that those arrested could have been planning an attack in Spain or in Europe,” he said.

Police found enough explosives to blow up a bus, in a flat which the men were renting in the southern town of La Linea de Concepcion in Andalucia, where one of the suspects was detained on Wednesday, the minister said.

The two other suspects were arrested on Wednesday in the central town of Ciudad Real while apparently on their way to France, he said.

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