ETA detonates bomb in N Spain, causing no casualties

MADRID, July 28 (Xinhua) -- A bomb placed on highways by the Basque separatist group ETA damaged four vehicles and six houses in northern Spain but caused no casualties, local government said Monday.

The bomb, detonated by the Basque Homeland and Freedom (ETA) on the A-8 highway near the city of Orio, was targeted on two Basque construction companies Acciona and Fonorte, both of which are involved in the construction of a railway in the Basque region.

It was not clear when the bomb exploded, and the damage was found on Monday morning when workers came to the site.

This was the third time that ETA has set bombs on properties of firms involved in the railway construction, according to Vasco Press, a local news agency.

ETA, formed in 1959, has called for the establishment of an independent Basque state in the Basque region straddling the Spanish-French border.

Over the past four decades, assassinations, kidnappings and explosions carried out by the group have claimed the lives of nearly 1,000 people. The European Union and the United States have listed ETA as a terrorist organization.

ETA declared a permanent truce on March 22, 2006. Three months later, the Spanish government decided to start a dialogue with the group. But the government called off the peace process after ETA bombed Madrid airport in December 2006 during which two people were killed.