2 Basque Police Officers Killed
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ITSASONDO, Spain — Two Basque police officers were shot to death Sunday in the northern Spanish province of Guipuzcoa, Basque region officials said.
The regional officials said the attack could have been carried out by ETA (Basque Homeland and Freedom) separatists. But local police attributed it to a “disturbed individual who had a personal conflict with the agents.”
They said a 23-year-old man who lived in the hamlet where the shooting occurred had been detained.
The officers were part of the special Basque “Ertzaintza,” an integral police force unique to the Basque region. Each was shot in the back with a rifle and died instantly, police said.
The ETA has killed about 750 people and often targeted the police and military in its 27-year campaign for an independent Basque state.
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