Two Spanish police wounded by suspected ETA bomb

MADRID, Aug 24 (Reuters) Two Spanish police were slightly wounded by a bomb in the Basque region early today in what police said appeared to be the first bombing by ETA separatist guerrillas since they ended a ceasefire in June.

The bomb, placed in a van parked outside a police barracks in the central Basque Country town of Durango, caused considerable damage to the building, a Civil Guard police spokesman said. The two officers were hit by flying glass.

There was no prior warning of the attack nor any immediate claim of responsibility, but the police spokesman said: ''We have little doubt it was (ETA).'' The explosion at about 3.30 am (0700 ist) also damaged buildings adjacent to the barracks and shook locals in their beds, witnesses and media said.

''The damage was not only to the barracks, but to our houses as well, because they are completely destroyed -- windows, glass, balconies, it's all destroyed,'' a local resident told state radio.

The bomb contained 70-80 kg of explosives and was packed with shrapnel, local media reported.

For weeks Spain's Socialist government has warned of an imminent ETA attack after the arrests of members of the guerrilla group and the capture of explosives.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero attempted peace talks with ETA last year, despite fierce opposition criticism, but called them off after the rebels bombed Madrid Airport in December, killing two people.

Ending the talks seems to have largely defused the Basque struggle as a national political issue ahead of general elections due by next March, although analysts suspect the guerrillas might try a big attack before the vote.

ETA said on June 5 it was calling off a 15-month-old ceasefire, although it had already effectively broken it with the airport bombing.

A second vehicle, believed by police to have been used by the bombers to flee the attack in Durango, exploded in the town of Amorebieta about an hour later, the spokesman said.

ETA guerrillas have killed more than 800 people in a four-decade campaign for independence for Basque areas in northern Spain and southern France.

Opinion polls show most inhabitants of Spain's Basque region, which already enjoys considerable autonomy, do not want full separation from Madrid.

REUTERS SKB KP1405