Eta car bomb kills policeman in Spain A policeman has been killed in a car bomb in northern Spain in an attack blamed on the Basque separatist group Eta.
Eduardo Puelles, 49, who was married with two children who was about to be promoted to chief inspector in the national police's intelligence division, died when a car bomb exploded as he was about to drive to work from his home in Arrigorriaga, near the cityof Bilbao.
The explosion left only fragments of the car remaining.
Eta, which stands for Basque Homeland and Liberty, usually makes a warning call before planting a bomb, but not when targeting specific victims. The group often claims attacks months later. The initial police reports on the attack suggested that the target, who was involved in monitoring Eta activity, had been followed for some time to learn his routine.
The attack was the first since a new Socialist-led Basque government took office. Following the car bombing, the Basque leader, Patxi Lopez, said of Eta: "They have shown us the path of pain. We will show them to path to prison."
Over the past two years, Spanish and French police forces have dismantled several cells and arrested ETA leaders in both countries. Friday also marked the 22nd anniversary of one of Eta's most brutal attacks, when they detonated a bomb in a Barcelona supermarket, killing 21 people.
ETA's last victim was a Basque businessman, who was shot dead in December. Eta, which the United States and the European Union list as a terrorist group, extorts money from Basque businesses using death threats. The group calls it a "revolutionary tax".