Terrorism in Greece

Terrorism in Greece is primarily committed by far-left, revolutionary Marxist organizations.

Banned terrorist organizations

Revolutionary Organization 17 November

Main article: Revolutionary Organization 17 November

The Greek government arrested many members of the 17 November organization in the summer of 2002. In 2003 15 members were found guilty of multiple murders and convicted for more than 2,500 crimes. In December 2005 a three-judge panel began an appeals trial.

Revolutionary Struggle

Main article: Revolutionary Struggle

The Revolutionary Struggle is a far-left Greek paramilitary group known for its attacks on Greek government buildings. It is widely described as a terrorist organization by both the Greek government and the media.

Revolutionary Nuclei

Main article: Revolutionary Nuclei

Revolutionary Nuclei was a far-left, anti-U.S., anti-NATO, and anti-European Union terrorist organization that conducted 13 bomb attacks in Athens between 1996 and 2000. The first attack for which RN took credit was a bomb attack on Greek Coast Guard installations in Piraeus on 11 May 1997, but it later acknowledged that two earlier attacks were carried out by RN members. Per its four proclamations, RN fought against the "imperialist domination, exploitation, and oppression" of Greece.

On 27 April 1999 an RN bomb targeting a conference at the Intercontinental Hotel in Athens killed one person (Despite telephoned warnings, the building was not evacuated). In December 1999 RN set off explosives near Texaco's offices in Athens. RN members bombed the Citigroup offices in Athens and a Greek-American sculptor's studio in November 2000. RN then disappeared without explanation.

Sect of Revolutionaries

Main article: Sect of Revolutionaries

Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei

Main article: Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei

Timeline

1974 - 2002

The Abu Nidal Organization attacked a City of Poros day-excursion ship in 1988.

2000 March 5. The Revolutionary Cells claimed responsibility for a time bomb that went off at the AKTOR construction company firm's office in Khalandri. The blast caused damage to the entrance of the company and to surrounding cars.

October 23. An explosive device detonated outside the Greek police pavilion at the Thessaloniki International Trade Fair. At the site, authorities found the initials "LEM" written on a piece of cardboard. Police blame this organization, the Popular Revolutionary Front (LEM), for the attack. The explosion caused only minor damage to the pavilion.

2001 After the September 11, 2001 attacks the Greek government allowed the U.S. to use Greek airspace and joined the War on Terror. As part of Operation Enduring Freedom the Greek Navy kept a frigate in the Arabian Sea for almost two years. The governments of the United States and Greece signed protocols updating treaties on extradition in January 2006.

2002 - December 2008 - Decline of terrorist activity

2004 March 17. A group calling itself the Committee for Promotion of Intransigence claimed responsibility for an explosive attack against the Mercedes-Ioannidhis car agency in Thessaloniki. The perpetrators threw three explosive devices, consisting of gas canisters and containers of flammable material outside the shop. The blasts damaged two of the cars parked in the lot. In their claim of responsibility, the group writes, "Early this morning we hit one of the symbols of spectacular misery and consumers' impassive state, the Mercedes agent.

May 5. Three explosive devices detonated in succession at a police station in the Kalithea neighborhood of Athens. The blasts caused major damage to the station but there were no reported injuries. An anonymous caller tipped authorities off to the location of the devices, and the area was cordoned off before the blasts took place. The attack comes 100 days before the start of the Olympics. On 13 May, the Revolutionary Struggle claimed responsibility for this attack. In their statement, the group writes, "with regard to the Olympic Games, we say that Greece's transformation into a fortress, NATO's involvement, the presence and activities of foreign intelligence units show clearly that (the Olympics) are not a festival like Games organizers say, but it’s a war."..

2007

2007 United States embassy attack

Main article: 2007 United States embassy attack

On 11 January 2007 members of the Revolutionary Struggle fired an anti-tank missile at the United States embassy in Athens, failing to injure anyone. Byron Polydoras, the Greek public order minister, said an anonymous phone call from a member of the Revolutionary Struggle claimed responsibility. Traffic on roads came to a halt as police searched the area for suspects.

Counter-terrorism

Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis met with Vangelis Meimarakis, the Minister of National Defence, and Byron Polydoras the Minister of Public Order, on 18 January 2007. They discussed terrorism and the use of CCTV, which Defense Minister Meimarakis supports. Public Order Minister Polydoras updated Prime Minister Karamanlis on the investigation into the U.S. embassy attack.

2008 January 20. A Chilean diplomatic car was destroyed by an IED. An organization calling itself Radical Solidarity claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it had been in support of Chile’s indigenous population.

October 24. At about 4:00 a.m. police were able to defuse a homemade explosive that had been left outside the offices of Royal Dutch Shell. They had received an anonymous phone call warning of the device's location. Authorities usually attribute similar attacks to extreme leftists and anarchists.

December 2008 Riots and resurgence

The 2008 Greek riots started on 6 December 2008, when Alexandros Grigoropoulos (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Γρηγορόπουλος), a 15-year-old student, was fatally shot by Epaminondas Korkoneas, a police officer. The shooting occurred after an altercation between a police patrol and a small group of youths in the Exarcheia district of central Athens. The death of Grigoropoulos resulted in large protests and demonstrations, which escalated to widespread rioting, with hundreds of rioters damaging property and engaging riot police with Molotov cocktails, stones and other objects.

The riots caused a resurgence in terrorist activity, which has largely waned after 2002. A number of far-left, anarchist and communist groups made their appearance and carried a series of attacks. Moreover, far-right terrorism, directed at immigrants and anarchists, also appeared in a more organized form.

Post - December 2008

2009 January 5. A Greek riot policeman has been left seriously injured after being shot in central Athens. A group calling itself Popular Action claimed to be behind that attack.

February 3. Gunmen attacked a police station in Korydallos municipality, in the western suburbs of Athens, firing weapons and throwing a hand grenade. Sect of Revolutionaries claimed responsibility..

February 18. Two gunmen fired 13 shots into a private T.V studio's compound and tossed in an explosive device before fleeing on two sport motorcycles. No one was hurt or killed in the incident and the bomb failed to explode. Sect of Revolutionaries claimed responsibility.

March 18. A homemade bomb exploded at the government office of the ruling party in Greece, causing damage but no injuries according to the police. Deputy Kyriakos Mitsotakis was not at the office during the attack.

May 12. In southern Athens at a Eurobank a bomb exploded early in the morning causing damage to the building but no injuries or deaths. It is believed the be the fourth attack by far-left militants on government targets since the beginning of the year.

June 17. Leftist urban guerrillas shot dead a Greek anti-terrorism policeman in Athens on Wednesday in the worst attack since riots in December launched a wave of bombings and shootings in Greece. Sect of Revolutionaries claimed responsibility.

July 7. An explosion rocks the house of former Minister of Internal Affairs, Panagiotis Chinofotis. The anarchist group Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei claimed responsibility. The group claimed that Chinofotis was bearing responsibility for the murder of Alexandros Grigoropoulos.

September 2. A bomb in a van explodes outside the Athens Stock Exchange, injuring a passerby and damaging the building, and a bomb explodes outside a government building in Thessaloniki causing minor damage but no injuries.Revolutionary Struggle claimed responsibility.

September 24. Home-made bomb blasts outside Greek politician's home in Athens. A weak explosion caused by a home-made bomb in an apartment building in the center of Athens Wednesday, outside the apartment of a former minister of the main opposition socialist party PASOK Gerasimos Arsenis and his wife Louka Katseli.

After the attacks the police carried a raid during the night on a house in the northeastern Athens district of Halandri that counterterrorism officers have been monitoring for months. It resulted in the arrest of four suspects that police believe might be responsible for the attack. The suspects are supposed to be members of anarchist terrorist group Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei.

October 27. A machinegun attack on the Agia Paraskevi police precinct left six officers injured, two of them seriously

October 30. A time bomb detonated outside the Athens home of prominent conservative opposition member of the European Parliament, Marietta Giannakou, early yesterday, causing minor damage and no injuries. Anarchist group Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei claimed responsibility.

November 14. A bomb detonated in front of the home of PASOK deputy Mimis Androulakis in Kareas suburb, in eastern Athens. Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei claimed responsibility. The group called Androulakis a traitor of the left wing cause.

After the attack, a 22-years old girl was arrested as a suspected member of the anarchist group.

November 16. Anarchist terrorist group Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei announces its alliance with fellow anarchist group Terrorist Guerillas.

November 24. A time bomb detonated outside the political office of MEP and actor Yannis Vouros.

A bomb attack against the antiauthoritarian centre BuenoVentura came in the early hours of the morning, in the city of Salonica, causing only material damage to the premises. Police suspects neo-fascist groups behind the blast.

December 3. An appeals court on Thursday overturned the convictions of three Greeks who had been found guilty of belonging to far-left terrorist group Revolutionary Popular Struggle (ELA), that was blamed for dozens of attacks on American targets.

December 28. A makeshift bomb went off at 23:01 on Sunday night in the Athens district of Neos Kosmos. The explosion targeted the Ethniki Asfalistiki building off Syngrou Avenue. Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei claimed responsibility

2010

January 9. Urban guerillas exploded a makeshift bomb outside Greece's parliament on Saturday evening causing no injuries and minor damage, police said. The latest in a series of blasts, the explosion took place in the heart of Athens, a well policed area where some of the capital's best hotels and the finance ministry are located. Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei claimed responsibility

January 15. Armed assailants yesterday broke into the office of Deputy Justice Minister Apostolos Katsifaras and beat up two of his aides using batons and hammers. The two employees were hospitalized with heavy bruising. Katsifaras was absent at the time.

January 16. A makeshift bomb has exploded outside Greece's press ministry building, causing material damage but not injuries, police say. The bomb went off outside the government building in the capital Athens late on Friday, just after private television stations Alter and Antenna had received anonymous warnings by telephone that an explosion was imminent.

February 16. A bomb exploded against the U.S. bank JPMorgan, causing material damage. An unknown person had phoned the police of the impending explosion. The police had time to complete the evacuation of the Kolonaki district, before the blast.

February 26. A makeshift bomb has exploded against the office of deputy Pemi Zouni, member of PASOK, in Athens causing material damage but no injuries.

February 28. A bomb made from small gas canisters exploded at a branch of Millennium Bank in Thessaloniki causing material damage but no injuries. In a second time a police patrol was attacked with stones, bottles and Molotov cocktail in Athens.

March 11. Lambros Fountas, 35 years old, is killed after an exchange of fire with police. Fountas was considered to be an associate member of terrorist organizations "Revolutionary Struggle" and "Sect of revolutionaries", by the police

March 19. A bomb exploded inside the office building of the Greek far right party in Athens. The bomb did severe damage to the building. No one was injured in the attack. Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei claimed responsibility

March 20. A second bomb attack occurred when a bomb exploded outside the home of a Pakistani community leader in Athens. No one was killed or injured in the blast and some damage was done to the entrance of the apartment building and three cars. Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei claimed responsibility

March 20. A new bomb exploded against a police center in Athens. The bomb did lightly damage and no one was killed or injured. Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei claimed responsibility

March 28. A bomb exploded outside a public building in the Greek capital of Athens killing one and injuring two. It is known that left-wing militants are the most likely of suspects for this particular bombing.

June 24. A parcel bomb exploded at the offices of Greece's public order ministry in Athens and killed a close aide to the minister responsible for counter-terrorism.

On 30. December 2010 a motorcycle-bomb caused huge damage to a Athens courthouse, but caused no injuries as police had evacuated the area after a warning call. The online proclamation was signed as Conspiracy Nuclei of Fire.