Basque terrorists bomb Madrid Airport during Christmas rush.

An explosion at the new Terminal 4 parking garage of the Madrid Airport on December 30 is being attributed to the Basque terrorist group ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, Basque for "Basque Homeland and Freedom"). The bomb, a stolen van reported to have been loaded with 1,200-1,800 pounds of explosives, brought down several stories of the structure, shutting down the airport and stranding thousands of holiday travelers during the busiest travel period of the year. The ETA's four-decade terror campaign has left more than 850 dead and thousands wounded.

Initial news stories reported only 20 injured and none killed in the latest bombing. However, shortly after the bombing two men who were sleeping in cars in the structure were reported missing. They are believed to have perished in the blast. The relatively small number of casualties in relation to the size of the blast at the busy terminal was due to the fact that the terminal had been evacuated after officials had received a warning call from someone claiming to be with the ETA.

The New Year's bombing ends a nine-month cease-fire between the ETA and the Spanish government. Last fall the ETA began an escalation of street violence, and in the days and weeks before the bombing, Spanish police uncovered several ETA arms and explosives caches. The ETA, which has a long record of cooperating with many different terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda and other Mideast terrorists, is an avowedly Marxist-Leninist group that has been supported by Cuba, China, Libya, Russia, Syria, and Iran. In 1978, Spanish intelligence learned that the ETA was being directed by KGB agents in France and Spain, including Oleg Suranov, manager of the Soviet airline Aeroflot in Spain, and Anatoli Krassilinikov of the Soviet embassy in Madrid. The Russian FSB (former KGB) appears to still have a hand in the ETA through its agents in Iran, Syria, France, Italy, and Spain.