ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek anti-terrorism police have found guns and explosives in the storage area of a flat in central Athens, police said on Wednesday, weeks after a blast in an apartment in the capital killed a man and hurt a woman.
Police were alerted to the discovery by the owner of the flat who said he was previously unaware of the existence of the guns and explosives. The evidence was transferred to a crime laboratory for further analysis, police said.
The anti-terrorism unit is examining if the case is related to a bomb that went off as it was being made in an apartment on Oct. 31, an incident they have linked with a revival of anti-establishment guerrilla group activities.
So far, four people face charges that include setting up and participating in a terrorist group and illegal possession of explosives. They have all denied wrongdoing.
On Monday, police arrested a 31-year-old man, a self-proclaimed anarchist.
A 31-year old suspect and a 30-year-old woman, a Swiss resident, have also been detained pending trial. The 33-year-old woman who was injured in the blast is also under arrest.
The original target of the bomb remains unknown.
Police have analysed CCTV footage and believe that the group, including the 36-year old man who was killed, had been planning an attack on the day of the blast.
Greece has a history of political violence. Several self-proclaimed leftist and anarchist guerrilla groups, declaring war on all forms of government, emerged after the 2002 dismantling of the country’s deadliest group “November 17”.
Bomb, arson and gun attacks against politicians, police, judges and embassies were frequent after the police killing of a teenager in December 2008, in the run-up to Greece’s decade-long debt crisis. Attacks have eased in recent years.
(Reporting by Yannis Souliotis; Writing by Renee Maltezou. Editing by Kate Mayberry)
Comments