15 February 2006

PAMPLONA — After telephoning a warning, ETA detonated a car bomb outside a nightclub in the northern Spanish town of Urdax, causing damage but no casualties.

The blast took place at around 8pm on Tuesday inside the La Nuba discotheque, which had already been evacuated and cordoned off by police.

Authorities in the region of Navarre, which includes Urdax, said that the telephone warning about the bomb came some 50 minutes before the device went off.

Several residents around the night club told EFE they saw a column of smoke rising from La Nuba and heard what one described as an "impressive" noise.

This marks the second time in less than three months that ETA has targeted a disco in Navarre.

In December, the terror group detonated a van packed with explosives outside a club in Santesteban, resulting in extensive blasts but no casualties.

That attack was also preceded by a warning.

ETA has killed more than 800 people since 1968 in its violent campaign for an independent Basque state comprising parts of northern Spain and south western France.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news