Officers injured in Corsica attack

BASTIA, Corsica -- Fifteen police officers have been slightly injured in a bomb explosion in front of a police station on the French island of Corsica, The Associated Press reports.

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The officers received only slight injuries, while a wall was damaged in the attack, officials said.

A group of men believed to be separatists left the bomb outside the police station in Colonna d'Istria de Borgo before driving away in a car at about 12:35 p.m. local time, police said.

The injured policemen, who were having lunch at the time, suffered hearing damage from the noise of the explosion.

There was also a bomb explosion before dawn outside a Credit Lyonnais bank in the city of Bastia. There were no injuries in that explosion.

AP said investigators found pamphlets with the words "liberty for patriots" near the police station.

The station was attacked in December last year claimed by the Corsican National Liberation Front, a separatist group.

The group called a cease-fire in December 1999, then announced in May 2000 it planned to return to action.

Corsican separatists have been waging a struggle for more autonomy for the Mediterranean island since the mid-1970s.

Prefect Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the French government's highest official on the island, denounced the "cowardly and blind" attack.

"Clearly, the perpetrators of this attack ran the risk of deliberately injuring and killing," his statement said.