A policeman has been killed and three people have been injured by a car bomb in the northern Basque region of Spain.

The bomb was left in a van parked outside a police barracks in the small town of Legutiano, near the Basque capital, Vitoria.

It exploded at 0300 (0100 GMT), destroying parts of the building.

No group has claimed responsibility, but the authorities have blamed the attack on the militant Basque separatist group Eta.

If confirmed, it would be Eta's first fatal attack since Spain's general election two Somali pirates seize Spanish boat ...
Bomb in Spain injures 7 ...
Blast near Spanish police station ... months ago, and the sixth since Eta broke a ceasefire in 2006.

More attacks

The dead man, in his forties, died after being trapped under rubble.

Three other people, civil guards and police, were wounded. One is said to have serious injuries.

No phoned warning was made before the attack.

The bombing, just 15km from the Basque capital Vitoria, comes as the country embarks on a new parliamentary cycle.

Eta had already staged several low-level attacks following the Socialists' election victory in March.

Eta was blamed for a bomb blast in April in the northern Basque city of Bilbao, which wounded seven policemen.

The group said it was behind the murder of a former Socialist councillor outside his home, two days before the 9 March general election.

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(BBC)

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