After nearly 40 years , a militant group on the island of Corsica says it is abandoning its armed struggle for independence from France . The banned National Liberation Front of Corsica , also known an FLNC , said Wednesday in a statement obtained by CNN affiliate France 3 that it had made the decision with no preconditions and had started the process of demilitarization . The birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte , Corsica is located in the Tyrrehenian Sea , part of the Mediterranean , between the coasts of France and Italy . It has been under French control since the 1700s . The island has been plagued by terrorism -- including bombings , robberies , and assaults -- since 1976 , with the FLNC in the throes of a long , low-intensity military campaign against French targets on the island . In 1997 , several banks and government offices were targeted in more than 50 bomb explosions in one day , for which FLNC claimed responsibility . France 's government launched a ferocious crackdown in Corsica after a top French official there was gunned down in 1998 on the street of Ajaccio . This spurred a series of nationalist protests , followed by a string of FLNC attacks against French targets . A branch of the separatist group announced in 2003 that it would suspend its military actions . But attacks by FLNC continued , although with less frequency .
Militant Resistance will accept its identity as a French territory , the newspaper says . The separatist group has sought independence since 1976 .