3 Bombing Suspects, Police Officer Die In Madrid Explosion
VOA News
03 Apr 2004, 20:19 UTC
Spain's Interior Ministry says three suspects in the deadly Madrid train bombings have blown themselves up during a police stake-out, also killing a police officer.
Interior Minister Angel Acebes said Saturday that 11 police officers were also injured in the blast. The facades of the building where the suspects were hiding were blown away.
Local media reported that a total of 15 people were wounded.
The explosion erupted in a suburb of Madrid as Spanish police searched for three suspects in the March 11 terrorist train bombings, which killed 191 people. Police cordoned off an area in the Leganes suburb in the southern outskirts of the capital.
Local media reported that police were trying to arrest three people believed to be of North African descent who had taken shelter in an apartment building.
Meanwhile, Spanish authorities said earlier that the bomb found on a high-speed rail line on Friday contained the same type of explosives used in last month's bombings.
Interior Minister Acebes also told reporters Saturday that the investigation is continuing into who planted the unexploded device. Islamic extremists with ties to al-Qaida are blamed for the Madrid attacks.
A railroad employee discovered the bomb on Friday near the central city of Toledo, along a high-speed rail line linking Madrid and Seville.
Spain Friday announced new security measures to assure the safety of its rail network, including the use of military helicopters, four-wheel-drive cars and armored vehicles to patrol the rail system.
Several Spanish newspapers reported Saturday that the country's embassy in Cairo has received a letter threatening an attack on Spanish interests in North Africa and the Mediterranean. The reports say the letter, signed by the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, demands that Spanish troops be withdrawn from Iraq and Afghanistan by the end of April.
The same group claimed responsibility for the Madrid train bombings.
Authorities are holding 15 people in the bombings.
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