Eta blamed as car bomb kills two policemen

Basque terror group Eta resumed their bloody campaign for an independent homeland today with a a car bomb attack that killed two policemen and critically wounded another in northern Spain.

The bomb went off under a police car outside an administrative building in Sanguesa, Navarra province.

Two officers were killed and a third was so badly injured doctors were forced to amputate his legs. A passing civilian was also hurt.

“Eta has murdered once again,” Deputy Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said in Madrid. He vowed to use “all means at our disposal” to fight the group and the politicians linked to it.

In response to the attack, Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar called off a trip to St Petersburg where he had planned to join a Russia – EU summit.

Eta often uses car bombs in its campaign for an independent Basque homeland in northern Spain and south-west France. Its attacks have killed more than 800 people since the late 1960s.

In today’s attack the policemen had entered a local government building in Sanguesa to do administrative tasks. When they came out and got into their Citroen car, a bomb under it detonated, officials said.

It was not clear if the device was attached to the car or simply placed underneath while the police were in the building.

The explosion came five days after Basque local elections in which hundreds of pro-independence candidates allegedly linked to Eta’s outlawed political wing were barred from running.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing. Eta usually takes weeks to claim responsibility for attacks, and often does so only through the Basque-language media.

Navarra borders the troubled Basque region and is home to many Basque nationalists. Sanguesa is 20 miles south-east of Pamplona.

The last attack blamed on Eta was the February 8 shooting of a police chief in the Basque town of Andoiain, home to many supporters of the banned Basque party Batasuna.

The pause in violence had led to speculation that Eta might be observing a truce like the one it called in 1998. But two weeks ago hooded men calling themselves Eta members appeared in a video broadcast on Basque TV and said the group’s fight would continue.