Seven Bombs Explode in Spanish Cities
Bombs explode after ETA warnings (CNN)
Six people are reported to have been injured — including three children — after seven bombs exploded in Spanish cities after a warning by Basque separatist group ETA. Monday’s blasts came just three days after a similar warning was issued about five bombs in Madrid that later exploded. A spokeswoman for the Spanish Interior Minister said the ministry had confirmed three of the latest bombs and was checking on the others.
CNN partner network CNN+ said bombs exploded in the northern cities of Avila, Valladolid, Leon and Santillana del Mar, Malaga on the Mediterranean and the southern city of Ciuead Real and Alacante in the southeast at 1.30 p.m. (1230 GMT) on Monday. ETA had telephoned the Basque newspaper Gara in two calls with threats about seven bombs. Police sent officers to the locations indicated to minimize casualities. The interior ministry said the injuries may have taken place because some of the bombs went off in different locations than warned of by ETA.
None of the sites bombed on Monday are within Spain’s Basque Country, which comprises three provinces in the north of Spain that nationalists say are part of a Basque homeland including Navarra and three provinces in France. Monday is Constitution Day, a Spanish national holiday to commemorate the 1978 constitution, and a series of events are planned across the country with top government officials attending.
The fact that they once again called police ahead of time to minimize casualties lends credence to the idea this is indeed ETA. It is most odd, however, that the locations didn’t match precisely.
I’ve started to wonder since the 3/11 attacks, if ETA and AQ were not co-operating.