Bomb defused at riot unit headquarters

Greece’s Anti-Terror Service launched an investigation after an active bomb was found and defused on Kokkinopoulou Street, in the area of the Zografou University Campus, near the headquarters of the riot police on Monday.

There had been a warning, via recorded messages, to the Efimerida ton Syntakton newspaper and the zougla.gr website, of a bomb explosion at the riot police headquarters.

The explosive device was found inside a plastic container, in a black bag, during a search of the premises about 100 meters from the entrance gate. 

According to reports, the device contained C4 explosives and gelatin dynamite, and consisted of a watch and two switches. 

The reappearance of terrorism has alerted police and the Ministry of Citizen Protection.

Although the bomb did not detonate due to a failure in the wiring, the incident is assessed as the most serious in the period between the attack on the Skai offices on December 17, 2018 and today.

Anti-terrorism officials who have been conducting the investigation point out that the perpetrators who undertook to carry out the attack relied on materials and methodology that have been used in the past by armed violence groups.

The use of gelatin dynamite, placing the explosive material in plastic containers and warning with a recorded message in the Efimerida ton Syntakton newspaper and at Zougla.gr are elements that have been recorded in similar cases in the past.

At the same time, however, they also identify some new elements in the construction of the device, such as placing the explosive material not in one but two plastic containers and deciding to act in daylight, which was recorded for the first time in the country’s police annals.

Tentative conclusions suggest that a newbie in the realm of armed violence sought to execute the formula of an older cadre, but failed. 

Authorities have also focused their attention on a number of recent low-intensity actions that have not received public attention.