A Spanish guardia civil policeman was shot and killed during an operation against members of the Basque separatist group ETA, French police sources said today.
A second Guardia Civil was seriously injured in the shooting in the French resort of Capbreton, 20 km from the southern city of Biarritz. The suspects escaped, the police source added.
The killing is the first by ETA since it called off a 15-month-old ceasefire on June 5th - which it had effectively already broken by bombing Madrid airport last December.
The separatists have killed more than 800 people in four decades of armed struggle for independence for ancient Basque territories in northern Spain and southern France.