Spanish soldier dies in car bombing

SANTONA, Spain, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- A Spanish soldier was killed Monday in the third car bombing within 24 hours in northern Spain, officials said.

Spanish national radio said the bomb exploded outside of an army barracks in Santona, The New York Times reported.

Officials said the explosion occurred after a warning telephone call was attributed to ETA, the Basque separatist movement.

The latest car bombings come after Constitutional Court decisions to ban outlaw political parties embracing Basque separatism, the Times reported. The parties have been seen as successors to the ETA political wing, which was banned in 2003. ETA has stepped up its attacks since talks with the government collapsed in early 2007.

Monday's bombing followed two attacks Sunday in northeastern Spain. In Ondorroa, 10 people were injured when a car bombing near a police station. A car bomb in Vitoria caused no injuries.