International Herald Tribune
October 30, 2008
MADRID: A car bomb injured 17 people Thursday at a university in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona after police searched the wrong campus for explosives following a telephone call purportedly from the Basque separatist group ETA warning of an imminent attack, Spanish authorities said.
The government blamed ETA for the incident.
The bomb exploded in a parking lot at the University of Navarra at 11 a.m., according to the Interior Ministry in Madrid. Few students were in the area where the bomb exploded because of rain.
"We could have had an enormous tragedy at the University of Navarra," Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba told a news conference in Madrid. "The bomb simply went off when nobody was around."
Police received a warning call in the name of ETA an hour before the explosion, Rubalcaba said, but the caller did not specify which university would be attacked.
Police first searched the campus in nearby Vitoria, which meant that officials were not able to evacuate the Pamplona university in time — the usual police procedure following ETAwarning calls. The Pamplona campus was evacuated following the explosion.
The bomb may have contained up to 220 pounds of explosives, according to Spanish press reports. Most of the injuries were caused by flying glass.
The attack was the sixth since 1979 on the university, which is located in the northern region of Navarra, one of several Basque-speaking provinces which ETA would like to turn into an independent state.
Authorities speculate that the attack was a response to the recent arrest of three suspected ETA leaders in Pamplona and another in Valencia.
ETA ended its most recent truce in December 2006 when talks with the Spanish government broke down.
ETA has killed more than 800 people in its nearly four-decade fight for an independent Basque state in parts of southern France and northern Spain. In recent years it has been severely weakened by recruitment problems and hundreds of arrests in both Spain and France.
6 comments:
Glad to hear that no one got hurt. But why attack a university? This gains no ground and produces no gain for the ETA. To gain what they so desire, their own nation, they need to take alternative approaches.
Establish and form of government. This alone will give them more strength then bombing and killing more people. They appear less suitable to maintain their own country if they try to obtain it by murder and fear. Yes, they can change how people live; make them scared them to take the bus, turn on a car, and so forth, but they will got gain a region of land.
Do not attack the youth. This is more retro active than anything else. Once the "future" of a nation is put in jeopardy, they government will only strengthen their defense.
Terrorist groups, are so hopeless, all they can resort to is fear. That will only get you so far.
I am also glad to hear that no one was injured when this took place. Like Matt, I do not believe the proctor of fear is ever the correct route to take when attempting to get what you want. I believe the ETA has been organized since 1959. After nearly 50 years, one would think a different route would be taken to get the independence that they seek.
It says in the article that they started talks with the government in 2006 but eventually retreated. I would like to know the types of talks that they have had, and possibly investigate why they have not worked.
Another thing that I did not understand is why they would target a university that is inside the region that they would want to make independent. That would mean that you are essentially bombing the country that you want to make their own. This seems a bit contradictory.
I have also never understood why they would target the innocent, and especially the youth. What support does that give you other than hatred from the families of the 800 people that have died and the many that they have been hurt
Bombing universities to gain media coverage and acknowledgement, which is what I personally believe they are doing, stimulates so many emotions. Like Matt and Jessica I agree that bombing a University is completely ridiculous and more detrimental to their organization than anything. Bombing a university with youth and civilians is more than a low blow; it’s almost a cop out. Instead of doing something productive to advance their organization and make people realize that maybe they do deserve their independence it just creates more hatred towards them. Bombing a university hits me the hardest, after Virginia Tech I was in shock that someone could possibly have so much hatred towards complete strangers. Especially being enrolled in the university and realizing that it is a possibility horribly upset me, and hearing about it happening in Spain, especially while we are here, is heartbreaking. I am glad that no one got hurt, as is everyone I'm sure, but the mere fact that their plan was to hurt students, just to make some news makes me sick to my stomach, But I guess that’s why they are terrorist groups, they lack the skills to get their point across humanly so they resort to bombings, and death and fear, because it’s easier than actually creating a plan. I also think its concerning that if there was a large group of students surrounding that car that the police wouldn’t have been there in time. I think they need to develop a more effective procedure and crisis communication skills because it doesn’t appear that ETA, that has killed at least 800 and been organized for forty years, will be stopping anytime soon.
it doesnt make a whole lot of sense does it? When Amparo talked about it I asked her why they would bomb a university but all she knew was there are professors in the university who teach that ETA is an evil terrorist organization... i wonder why? Isn't it obvious that they are only making martyrs out of the professors and reinforcing their points?
ETA bombed the university in an attack against professors, who often publicly dismiss the idea of Basque separatism.
ETA was launched as a result of Franco's suppression of the region's nationalism. Although it is still not recognized as an independent state, the Spanish government has given it more sovereignty that any other region in Spain.
At this point, given continued attacks by ETA, it is time for the Spanish government to either devote more money and energy to curbing its terrorist activity (which most likely means using hard power) or let the Basque country become an independent state.
The conflict has dragged on for far too long.
First off... so sad. There is no part of this that I understand. Why bomb a University? The youth are the ones who they should be trying to connect with rather than harm. By persuading the youth, the probability of integrating their ideals into the culture is much higher. Instead, they are instilling fear and hate into the people. Maybe fear is what they are aiming for, but if people hate the ETA they will not want to pay any attention to their wants and concerns. Jessie's question of why bomb in their own area was one of my first questions as well.
I don't understand the ETA's methods, but then again I can't imagine ever understanding terrorist's ways.
Post a Comment