Police officer shot dead in Spain's Basque region

The officer, a member of the Basque region's autonomous police dressed in plain clothes, was killed in the town of Tolosa, the…

A police officer in Spain's northern Basque region was shot dead this evening in an attack bearing the hallmarks of the Basque separatist group ETA, an official said.

The officer, a member of the Basque region's autonomous police dressed in plain clothes, was killed in the town of Tolosa, the official said.

ETA was blamed for the bombing death of a local politician earlier today.

The central government spokesman in Navarre region identified the victim as Mr Jose Javier Mugica Astibia (58) a town councillor from Leiza, about 30 miles from Pamplona, where the annual running of the bulls festival is taking place.

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Explosives were planted on the underside of his small van parked in his home town, police said.

ETA has killed some 800 people since 1968 in a campaign to create an independent state in Basque areas of northern Spain and southwestern France.