Bomb hurt seven police in Basque city of Bilbao

April 17, 2008 A powerful bomb preceded by a warning call exploded in the Basque city of Bilbao, in northern Spain, injuring seven police officers. Basque separatist group ETA was blamed.

The blast occurred outside an office of the ruling Spanish Socialist Party, and happened after a telephone warning. The building was seriously damaged.

The warning call came a half hour before the explosion, but a police patrol in the area had already spotted a suspicious package near the building. The officers were cordoning off the area when the bomb blasted. Seven were treated for minor injuries.

The bomb blast comes a day after Spain's parliament opened a new session. Five weeks ago, the Socialist Party was also directly attacked when ETA killed a town councilman in the northern Basque town of Mondragon.