Socialist politician shot dead in Basque region

Unknown assailants shot and killed a member of the Socialist Party in Spain's Basque region Saturday, police said.

Unknown assailants shot and killed a member of the Socialist Party in Spain's Basque region Saturday, police said.

Juan Mari Jauregui, who was a former representative of the Interior Ministry in the northern province of Guipuzcoa was shot in the town of Tolosa when he was inside a bar, a Basque police spokeswoman said on condition of customary anonymity.

No more details were immediately available.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the shooting but local media and police blamed the armed Basque separatist group ETA.

ETA has killed nearly 800 people since 1968 in its campaign for Basque independence.

The armed group has been blamed for eight attacks in the last two weeks. The recent spate of violence included the assassination of a town councilor in the southern city of Malaga on July 15.