Three suspects in the Madrid railway bombings blew themselves up on Saturday as police prepared to storm their apartment, setting off a powerful explosion that killed one special forces agent and wounded 15 police officers, the interior minister said.
Saturday’s news further shocked Spaniards, still traumatised by the March 11 bombings that killed 191 people and wounded more than 1 800. An unexploded bomb found on Friday by a high-speed rail track added to the country’s uneasiness.
The blast in Leganes, a southwestern suburb of Madrid, blew out part of the exterior walls on the first two floors of the brick apartment building.
After the blast, floodlights lit up the wreckage in the exposed rooms of the building. Pieces of concrete littered the floor and wires dangled from the ceilings.
Television footage showed smoke billowing into the dark sky behind buildings in a built-up area, and a handful of people fleeing down the street.
In addition to the three suspected terrorists, one special forces agent was killed and 15 police officers were wounded, Interior Minister Angel Acebes said. The injured officers were taken to hospitals, including Severo Ochoa hospital in Leganes, where three of them were listed in serious condition.
The Interior Ministry said the police began approaching the building at about 7pm local time to make the arrests when the suspects spotted them from a window and began shooting, chanting loudly in Arabic. No police officers were hurt by the gunfire.
”The special police agents prepared to storm the building and when they started to execute the plan, the terrorists set off a powerful explosion, blowing themselves up,” Acebes said.
Police had evacuated residents from the area, and low-flying helicopters used searchlights to scan the buildings.
The minister said a preliminary investigation indicated that three suspected terrorists had died, but he added the number had yet to be confirmed because of the damage to the bodies. He added that police believe those killed may have helped to carry out the March 11 train bombings.
The news agency Europa Press reported that forensic police and firefighters were searching the building’s swimming pool for a possible fourth body. This could not be confirmed independently.
”There are three that could have blown themselves up, but the possibility of more is not ruled out,” Acebes said at his news conference.
”Police believe some of the terrorists that could have died in the explosion, could have been some sought by the security forces as the alleged perpetrators of the killings of March 11,” Acebes said.
Spain already has 15 suspects in custody and charged in connection with the attack on four commuter trains. Six of them have been charged with mass murder, and nine have been accused of collaborating with or belonging to a terrorist organisation. Eleven of the 15 charged are Moroccan.
Judge Juan del Olmo, the investigating magistrate, has issued international arrest warrants for five Moroccans and a Tunisian, identified as Sarhane Ben Abdelmajid Fakhet and described as the leader of the group suspected of carrying out the Madrid attacks.
On Friday, police found a bomb under the tracks of a high-speed rail line 60km south of Madrid. Acebes said on Saturday it was made of the same brand of dynamite, Goma 2 Eco, that was used in the Madrid train attacks.
The bomb failed to detonate because it wasn’t properly wired, officials said.
However, he said it was still too early to name any suspects.
Goma 2, often used for demolition and in mining, is relatively easy to obtain in Spain.
”It’s the same type of explosive and it’s the same brand,” Acebes said of the 12kg bomb. The bomb scare immediately stopped six high-speed bullet trains using the Madrid-Seville line.
Train service resumed on Saturday, but soldiers, police and civil guard officers could be seen patrolling the targeted rail lines.
Sunday is the start of Holy Week, when many Spaniards take vacation or travel to their hometowns for the Easter holiday.
Judge Teresa Palacio, the magistrate on duty on Friday at the National Court, said there was no evidence pointing to either the armed Basque separatist group ETA or the al-Qaeda terror network in the explosives found on the rail line, a court official said. ETA has targeted Spanish rail lines in the past.
The Spanish government’s main suspect in the March 11 attacks, the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, is related to a group suspected in last year’s Casablanca bombings, which killed 45 people including 12 suicide bombers.
Spain has been a major United States ally in Iraq and has been warned previously by al-Qaeda that it would be the target of terrorism for its support.
The Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported on Saturday that the Spanish embassy in Egypt had received a letter from an Islamic militant group threatening new attacks if Spain did not withdraw its troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
In the letter, the Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri, a group that also claimed responsibility for the March 11 attacks, threatened to strike against Spanish diplomatic missions in North Africa and the Mediterranean region unless Spanish troops are withdrawn in four weeks.
A Spanish diplomat in Cairo, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the embassy received a threatening letter signed by Abu Hafs after the commuter train attacks last month.
The US believes the Abu Hafs group lacks credibility and has only tenuous ties to al-Qaeda. In the past, the group has claimed responsibility for events to which they were not connected — such as last summer’s blackouts in North America and Britain. — Sapa-AP