Logrono, Spain - Suspected activists of the armed Basque separatist group ETA made a failed attempt at a major bomb attack overnight, Spanish police said Monday. The group parked a car containing at least 80 kilos of explosives in front of a defence ministry delegation in the northern city of Logrono.
Only a small device was heard to explode inside the car. It was thought to have been the detonator of the bomb which had failed to function.
Explosives experts rendered the bomb harmless and lifted the security cordon on Monday morning. There were no injuries.
ETA apparently did not intend to cause injuries, because an anonymous caller had given an advance warning about the presence of the bomb. The caller, who contacted the Basque newspaper Gara, spoke in the name of ETA.
The attempted attack followed the publication by Gara of an ETA communique announcing the continuation of the group's violent campaign against the Spanish state "on all fronts."
ETA said it holds Spain's Socialist government responsible for the disintegration of the six-month peace process, which ended when the group killed two people in a car bombing at Madrid airport on December 30.
In the communique, ETA claimed responsibility for several attacks since it ended its 14-month ceasefire officially in June. They included a bombing on a police barracks in northern Spain in which two officers were injured.
Police have also foiled several attacks, arresting leading ETA members and seizing hundreds of kilos of explosives.
Meanwhile on Sunday, an illegal rally by ETA supporters led to clashes between demonstrators and police in the Basque coastal city of San Sebastian.
Eleven people, including five police officers, were injured. Nine people were detained.
ETA is blamed for more than 800 deaths in its campaign of nearly four decades for a sovereign Basque state.
