Spain: Former socialist official killed

MADRID, March 7 (UPI) -- A former socialist party official was shot and killed in Spain Friday just days before elections to select the country's new prime minister.

Isaias Carrasco was shot three times in the neck by unknown gunmen, El Pais reported online.

Authorities suspect the Basque separatist group ETA was responsible for the shooting, the report said.

If confirmed as an ETA act, it would mark the first time in six years the group has engaged in a political killing.

ETA, which calls for a separate homeland along the Spanish-French border, has been fighting Spanish authorities for more than three decades.