IntelCenter
Intelligence Note
"Representative Listing of Past ETA Operations in Spain"
11 March 2004
Classification: FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
intelcenter.com
In order to help foster a better understanding of ETA's tactics and targeting, we have compiled a representative sampling of incidents involving ETA between 2001 and 2003. This list is not comprehensive but does give a good overview of the group's attacks. The information was pulled from the archive of our World's Terrorist Group's - Intel Update (WTG-IU), which is contained in the IntelCenter Database
(ICD). You can find more information on these feeds by going to intelcenter.com.
Spain - Basque Homeland and Freedom [Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA)]
- - Around 1000 GMT on 22 July 2003, an explosive device detonated at a hotel in Alicante. At least eight people were injured. The hotel had been evacuated after the Gara newspaper received a call from ETA warning of the device.
[Source: IntelCenter, 28 July 2003]
- - Around 1000 GMT on 22 July 2003, an explosive device detonated at the Nadal hotel in Benidorm. Four policemen were injured. The resort had been evacuated after the Gara newspaper received a call from ETA warning of the device.
[Source: IntelCenter, 28 July 2003]
- - At around 0600 local time [0400 GMT] on 25 July 2003, an explosive device placed in a metal box in a dustbin detonated outside a courthouse in Estella. A caller claiming to be from ETA gave a 10 minute warning before the device detonated, according to EFE. The device contained about one kilogram of explosives. Two people were injured.
[Source: IntelCenter, 28 July 2003]
- - Around 1525 local time [1325 GMT] on 23 June 2003, a 33 lb explosive device detonated in the bathroom of the Tamarises hotel near the center of Getxo. A local newspaper received a warning from someone claiming to be from ETA that the device would detonate at 1530 local time.
[Source: IntelCenter, 23 June 2003]
- - In a message issued on 15 May 2003, ETA vowed to continue attacks and said it would only end the violence "if the wishes of the Basque people" were respected. ETA said it would continue attacks on Spain's "armed occupying forces", which include "the Spanish state's economic interests; the oligarchy; political leaders, elected representatives and candidates for the [Madrid-based] Popular Party and the Socialist Party, their headquarters and public events; the Spanish state's administrative structure ...; Spanish 'war media' and the Opus Dei."
[Source: AFP, San Sebastian, Spain, 16 May 2003]
- - At 2340 local time [2140 GMT] on the night of 23 Sep. 2002, an explosive device prematurely detonated in a parked car in the Basurto neighborhood on the outskirts of Bilbao. Two ETA members were killed. ETA confirmed that the two were members of ETA in a statement published in the Gara newspaper on 29 Sep.
[Source: AP, Madrid, Spain, 23 Sep. 2002; AFP, Bilbao, Spain, 24 Sep. 2002; The Guardian, Madrid, by Giles Tremlett, 24 Sep. 2002; AP, Madrid, Spain, 29 Sep. 2002]
- - On 24 Sep. 2002, an explosive device attached to a sign between the towns of Berastegui at the southeast tip of the Basque region and Leiza in the neighboring Navarra region bearing the ETA logo detonated. One police officer was killed and 3 injured. ETA claimed responsibility in a statement published in the Gara newspaper on 29 Sep.
[Source: AP, 24 Sep. 2002; AP, Madrid, Spain, 29 Sep. 2002]
- - In an ETA statement published by the Gara newspaper on 29 Sep. 2002, the group said, "As of this moment, the offices of the fascist PP and PSOE parties are military objectives of Euskadi Ta Askatasuna." It warned citizens to stay away from offices of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's Popular Party (PP) and the opposition Socialist Party (PSOE). The group also claimed responsibility for the 24 Sep. bombing near Pamplona, Spain which killed policeman Juan Carlos Beiro. In addition the statement said, Hodei Galarraga and Egoitz Gurrutxaga, who were killed when the explosive device they were building prematurely detonated on 23 Sep, were ETA members.
[Source: AP, Madrid, Spain, 29 Sep. 2002]
- - On 23 Sep. 2002, an explosive device detonated prematurely while ETA members were transporting it in a car in Bilbao. Two ETA members were killed.
[Source: IntelCenter, 23 Sep. 2002]
- - On 31 Aug. 2002, Basque police discovered a van left by ETA loaded with explosives and abandoned in Zamakola Street, Bilbao. The 30-40 kilos of titadine it contained were rendered safe shortly after 0300 local time on 1 Sep. The van was carjacked from Dima by three gunmen, claiming to be members of ETA, about eight hours prior to when it was
left on Zamakola street. The owner of the van was tied to a tree but managed to escape and notify authorities about an hour after the carjacking.
[Source: RNE Radio 1, 01 Sep. 2002; AFP, Bilbao, Spain 1 Sep. 2002]
- - Shortly after 07:00 local time on 21 Jun. 2002, a car bomb detonated near the Piramides hotel in Fuengirola. The device was located in a gray Peugeot 205. ETA warned police of the location and time of detonation in a phone call.
[Source: IntelCenter, 23 Jun. 2002]
- - At 13:00 local time [11:00 GMT] on 21 Jun. 2002, an explosive device detonated in a car on Arturo Ribenstein Street, which crosses the main avenue in Marbella, Malaga Province. The car used to carry out this attack was stolen on 19 Jun. 2002 in Malaga. Four people were reportedly injured. ETA warned police of the location and time of detonation in a phone call.
[Source: RNE Radio 1, 21 Jun. 2002, FlashNet, 21 Jun. 2002;
IntelCenter, 23 Jun. 2002]
- - On 21 Jun. 2002, an explosive device detonated outside an el Corte Ingles department store in Zaragoza after the store had closed. ETA warned police of the location and time of detonation in a phone call. Three people were injured.
[Source: IntelCenter, 23 Jun. 2002]
- - Shortly after 13:00 local time [11:00 GMT] on 22 Jun. 2002, a package bomb detonated at the Tamisa Golf hotel on the road between Mijas and Fuengirola in Malaga Province. The device was planted in the electricity meter hut in the parking lot. At around 12:20 local time [10:20 GMT] in a phone call ETA warned police of the location of the device and said it would detonate in 40 minutes. There were no
injuries.
[Source: IntelCenter, 23 Jun. 2002]
- - At 14:47 local time on 22 Jun. 2002, a car bomb detonated in Santander. A phone call from ETA gave police a 30-minute advance warning of the device's location. The device reportedly detonated five minutes earlier than ETA warned.
[Source: IntelCenter, 23 Jun. 2002]
- - On 14 May 2002, two suspected members of Basque Homeland and Freedom (ETA) were arrested in Madrid. The men had a car wired to 40 kilos of explosives ready to go off, and another 90 kilos of explosives in their house.
[Source: RNE Radio 1, 14 May 2002]
- - At 16:55 local time [14:55 GMT] on 1 May 2002, a car bomb detonated in the lower level of the Europa Tower, 50m from the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid. The explosion occurred as people were arriving for a soccer game. Seventeen people were slightly injured. ETA phoned in a warning prior to detonation.
[Source: RNE Radio 1, 1 May 2002; FlashNet, 1 May 2002; AFP, Madrid, 11:03 PDT, 2 May 2002; IntelCenter, 3 May 2002]
- - Around 17:45 local time [15:45 GMT] on 1 May 2002, a car bomb detonated on Embajadores St. in Madrid. The device was planted in a Ford Escort. ETA is suspected.
[Source: IntelCenter, 3 May 2002]
- - At 12:10 GMT on 20 Apr. 2002, a car bomb detonated on Manuel Smith Street in the Neguri District of Getxo. Basque Homeland and Freedom (ETA) made a call to the roadside assistance service shortly before the blast to warn that a Ford Fiesta car was going to explode at 12:05 GMT. No one was injured.
[Source: RNE Radio 1, 20 Apr. 2002; AFP, 20 Apr. 2002; AP, 20 Apr. 2002]
- - Around 01:00 local time on 22 Apr. 2002, a car bomb detonated in front of the entrance of the car park outside the Repsol YPF headquarters in Madrid. The device is estimated to have contained 33 lbs. of explosives. It was placed in a parked red Ford Fiesta. No one was injured.
[Source: IntelCenter, 23 Apr. 2002]
- - Around 09:00 local time [08:00 GMT] on 6 Nov. 2001, a car bomb detonated in Madrid. Four people were seriously injured and 50 people were injured slightly. A senior science and technology ministry officer may have been the intended target. The official escaped with only minor cuts when the bombers apparently misjudged the timing of his car. ETA is suspected.
[Source: WTG-IU, 6 Nov. 2001]
- - On 8 Nov. 2001, two vans loaded with a total of 1,700 kilos of explosives, which the Civil Guard intercepted in Dec. 1999 in Zaragoza Province, were intended to blow up the Picasso Tower in the Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid. The attack was the first one planned following the end of a ceasefire from Sep. 1998 to Dec. 1999. The action was programmed for 19:56 local time when a large number of
people would have been present. The terrorists' plan was discovered following questioning of members of an ETA cell.
[Source: ABC, 8 Nov. 2001]
- - Early on the morning of 13 Oct., a car bomb detonated in the underground car park in Colon Square, central Madrid, Spain. At least 17 people were injured. ETA is suspected of being responsible. The white Ford Fiesta which contained 25-30 kilos of explosives had been removed by towtruck from a street in the area for being illegally parked hours after a call on behalf of ETA warned that a car bomb had been planted on Alcantara St., about 1 km from Colon Square. Dogs failed to find any explosives.
[Sources: RNE Radio 1, 13 Oct. 2001; WTG-IU, 20 Oct. 2001]
- - Around 06:58 local time [05:58 GMT] on 27 August 2001, a car bomb detonated at Madrid International Airport/Barajas airport on the second floor of the P-2 car park at the domestic flights terminal in Spain. No one was injured. The area had been cordoned off at the time of the explosion. At 07:00 [05:00 GMT] a caller on behalf of ETA informed the Basque roadside assistance association (DYA) and the
fire service of the existence in the car park of a car bomb, a Madrid-registered Renault 19, which would explode at about 08:00 local time [06:00 GMT]. The registration number given was different from the car which contained the explosive device. According to Police Director-General Juan Cotino, the car contained between 40 and 50 kilos of explosive and was stolen on 9 August in Gernika.
[Sources: RNE Radio 1, 27 Aug. 2001; WTG-IU, 27 Aug. 2001]
- - On 18 Aug. 2001, forty to fifty kilos of dynamite were detonated in the car park of the Cala Font hotel in Salou, Tarragona Province. No one was injured. An hour before the detonation, an anonymous caller claiming to speak on behalf of ETA phoned the DYA (roadside call-out association) in San Sebastian to warn that an explosive device has been planted in a car bomb.
[Source: RNE Radio 1, 18 Aug. 2001]
- - On 22 Aug. 2001, the police arrested eight people, including three possible salaried members of the Donosti commando (ETA's flagship unit). The police seized weapons and explosives and found a car bomb ready for use.
[Source: RNE Radio 1, 22 Aug. 2001]
- - At 08:30 local time [09:30 GMT] on 28 June 2001, a parcel bomb, apparently in a knapsack on a bicycle placed next to the home of retired Gen. Justo Oreja. The device detonated when Oreja left his home in Lopez de Hoyos Street. Fourteen people, including Oreja, were injured in the blast. The device was detonated by remote control. Although the device only contained two kilos of explosives, its blast affected some 70 buildings in the surrounding area. ETA is suspected
of being responsible.
[Sources: RNE Radio 1, 28 June 2001; AP, 28 June 2001; WTG-IU, 29 June 2001]
- - On 15 May 2001, a letter bomb exploded in the apartment of Cambio 16 magazine reporter Gorka Landaburu when he opened it. Landaburu suffered face and had injuries. The letter arrived on 14 May. The apartment is located in Zarauz. Landaburu and his brother, who directs a regional edition of the El Pais newspaper, are believed to be on ETA's hit list.
[Sources: AP, Zarauz, Spain, Alberto Letona, 15 May 2001; RNE Radio 1, Madrid, 09:00 GMT, 15 May 2001; AFP, Paris, 14:39 GMT, 15 May 2001; RNE Radio 1, Madrid, 11:00 GMT, 16 May 2001; AFP, Paris, 16:55 GMT, 16 May 2001]
- - On 06 May 2001, a regional leader from Spain's ruling party was shot dead in an attack ascribed to the separatist group ETA just one week before voters are to elect a Basque government. Manuel Gimnez Abad, President of the Popular Party in Aragn and a senator in Madrid, was shot three times, twice in the head. Mr. Gimnez, a lawyer, 52, was on his way to a soccer match in the early evening with his son. The police said he was not being protected by a bodyguard.
[Sources: New York Times, 07 May 2001; The Guardian, 07 May 2001]
Copyright 2004 IntelCenter/Tempest Publishing, LLC, All Rights Reserved - Permission to redistribute this report is granted as long as it appears in its complete form, including this notice, with proper attribution to IntelCenter (http://www.intelcenter.com).
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