Monday, December 06, 2004

THE BOMB DEFUSED yesterday was actually a part of a bigger campaing (which started last Friday with the five bombs in Madrid's gas stations), as proved by the seven bombs which exploded earlier today all across Spain:
At least six explosive devices detonated Monday [actually it's been seven -- FA] around Spain after telephone warnings from callers claiming to speak on behalf of the armed Basque separatist group ETA, news reports said.

Explosions were reported in Leon and Santillana del Mar in the north, Avila and Ciudad Real in central Spain, Alicante in the east, and Malaga in the south, the news agency Europa Press reported.

The Interior Ministry said it had confirmed at least three explosions. It reported no injuries.

The blasts followed two telephone warnings to the Basque newspaper Gara from callers claiming to represent ETA that said explosives had been placed in seven cities spanning Spain's geography from north to south.

The Interior Ministry had said the seven sites targeted -- streets and plazas and a parking lot -- had been evacuated and cordoned off.

UPDATE. There were some causalties, fortunately none of them fatal, CNN reports:
Five people were slightly wounded when seven bombs exploded in as many Spanish cities following warnings by Basque separatist group ETA, according to officials.

Monday's blasts came just three days after a similar warning was issued about five bombs in Madrid that later exploded.

A spokeswoman for Spanish Interior Ministry said two of the wounded people were police officers who were evacuating a cafeteria in the southern city of Ciudad Real when a bomb exploded.

One other person was wounded in Ciudad Real, and two more were wounded in the northern city of Santillana del Mar.

News reports said one of the two wounded in Santillan del Mar was a 5-year-old child.

Other bombs exploded in Avila, Valladolid, Leon, Malaga and Alacante, all at about 1.30 p.m. (1230 GMT) on Monday, the time indicated by phone calls to the Basque newspaper Gara.

After the phone calls, police dispatched 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.
Which is odd; as far as I remember this is not usual, they've normally been more professional (in the wicked sense) in the past. Maybe it's just that it's new recruits with less experience, after so many leaders have been arrested in the last weeks. Or maybe it's someone else falsely claiming it's ETA. It wouldn't be the first time.