Unknown group claims responsibility for failed bomb attack at Thessaloniki courthouse
A previously unknown anarchist guerrilla group group identifying themselves as “Armed Response” has claimed responsibility for the failed bomb attack against a judge at the Thessaloniki courthouse in northern Greece last week, the third such incident since December.
In a statement posted on the Athens Indymedia website, the group said it was behind the attack and accused judges of “inhumane” rulings. Despite the unsuccessful attempt, the group warned, “our bullets will find the target, not only aimed at judicial officials.”
An envelope containing explosives was addressed to the president of the Court of Appeal. The device was defused by a bomb disposal unit before it could be detonated, and it was subsequently transported intact to forensic laboratories.
Small bomb and arson attacks against politicians, judges and businesses, among other targets, became more frequent just before and during the country’s 2009-2018 debt crisis but had decreased in the past five years.
On February 3, a bomb went off outside Greece’s Labor Ministry in central Athens causing no injuries but damaging the building. In December, another explosive device, planted at the headquarters of the riot police unit (MAT), was defused by police. [Combined reports]
