Eta attack foiled by police

A VAN that exploded in north-eastern Spain was detonated by members of the Basque separatist group Eta when they realised police were on their trail, Spain’s Interior Ministry said yesterday.

Eta had planned to use the van in an attack but were thwarted when police in the town of Les Coves de Vinroma became suspicious, said an Interior Ministry spokesperson.

He said the van had been stolen by alleged Eta members who, feeling cornered by police, blew the van up yesterday in an olive grove on the outskirts of town. No one was hurt. “The car was going to be used very soon,” the spokesperson said. The target of the planned bombing was unknown, healso said.

Eta, a Basque-language acronym for Basque Homeland and Freedom, has been waging a campaign for anindependent Basque state for nearly 40 years.