Bomb explodes at Spanish post office

MADRID - A bomb exploded outside a post office in Spain's northern Basque region, causing substantial damage but no injuries, and police said the attack was probably the work of the ETA separatist guerrilla group.

"In principle we can say that ETA was possibly behind this," a police spokesman said, adding that the explosives used were similar to others used in recent attacks by the group seeking independence from Spain.

The blast in the town of Igorre near Bilbao damaged the post office substantially but did not require residents in the rest of the building to be evacuated.

Earlier this week ETA detonated five small bombs on motorways around Madrid as Spain celebrated the 27th anniversary of its constitution, which some regional nationalists see as blocking greater self-rule for them.

Basque guerrillas have killed some 850 people since 1968 and in the last two years have frequently set off non-fatal bombs in their campaign for an independent homeland.

The group is considered a terrorist organisation by the European Union and the United States.

- REUTERS