Small bomb explodes on Spanish road

A small bomb exploded on a road in northern Spain today after the armed Basque separatist group ETA made a warning call about four bombs. No one was injured.

Also today, ETA’s banned political wing, Batasuna, called a general strike in the Basque region to protest against the death in prison of two ETA prisoners last week. Police say one hanged himself and the other had a heart attack.

No one was injured in the morning blast and there was little damage on the A-8 highway that links Bilbao and Santander in northern Spain near the border of the Basque region, said a police spokesman in the Basque city of Vitoria.

Police were searching for more devices after receiving a warning call from ETA saying four devices had been planted.

The devices were said to be on different Spanish roads, from Vitoria to Burgos, Pamplona to Logrono, Bilbao to Santander, and Pamplona to Zaragoza.

ETA has been blamed for more than 800 deaths since the late 1960s in its struggle to create an independent Basque homeland.

Its last fatal attack was in May 2003, when a car bombing killed two policemen. It routinely issues warnings before bombs go off, apparently in an effort to avoid casualties.