In what Athens police described as an act of terrorism, a rocket was fired at the United States embassy in Athens, capital of Greece, early on Friday. No injuries have been reported. Police cordoned off streets around the heavily guarded embassy building after the explosion took place at 5.58 a.m. on Friday. The shell struck the third floor and smashed glass in nearby buildings. Investigators found the device used to fire the rocket shell at a construction site near the embassy, which is located in central Athens on Vasillissis Sophias Avenue. Said Asimakis Golfis, the police chief of Attica: “This is an act of terrorism, but we don’t know where from. There was a shell that exploded in the toilets of the building. It was fired from street-level.” US embassy officials confirmed that an explosion had taken place and said that no one had been injured. United States Ambassador to Greece Charles Reis said the damage was “not extensive.” Reis continued: “There can be no justification for such a senseless act of violence. The embassy was occupied at the time, but nobody was hurt. There had been no warning of the attack. We’re treating it as a very serious attack; we will determine what it is when we know more.” Greece’s Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis said it was too early to draw conclusions as to who was behind the attack. Authorities in Athens searched apartment buildings near the embassy and a nearby hospital for evidence. Traffic came to a standstill across parts of central Athens as police and emergency services scrambled to the embassy building, which is a frequent destination for protest groups. It was the first major attack against a US target in Greece in over a decade, following the arrest of members of Greece’s far-left ‘November 17’ terrorist group. The group has been blamed for killing 23 people — including US, British and Turkish officials — and also dozens of bomb attacks. In 2003, a special court gave multiple life sentences to November 17’s leader, chief assassin and three other members. Lesser sentences were given to 10 others. ‘November 17’ had carried out a rocket attack against the United States embassy in 1996, causing minor damage but no injuries. |
