ETA gunmen kill Spanish guard

CNN ^ | December 1, 2007 | Al Goodman

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MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Members of the Basque group ETA have shot dead a Spanish civil guard and seriously wounded another in southern France, Spanish officials said.

It is the first fatality blamed on ETA in nearly a year. The separatist group claimed responsibility for a December 30, 2006, car bomb at a Madrid airport that killed two men and destroyed a parking garage.

The two plainsclothes civil guard officers were in Capbreton, France, to meet with French police about joint operations against ETA, which traditionally uses France as a base for its attacks in Spain, CNN's partner station CNN Plus reported.

The civil guards were shot as they emerged from a place where they regularly have breakfast, CNN Plus reported. Three ETA suspects fled in a car, later leaving it to commandeer a second car, CNN Plus reported. They held a French woman and her son, but quickly released them, CNN Plus reported.