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Athens gun attack link to Greek extremists
Source: Agencies |
January 6, 2009, Tuesday
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Greek police say a weapon fired at police in Athens was used last year in an attack claimed by a domestic extremist group that had previously targeted the United States Embassy.
A policeman was critically wounded in yesterday's pre-dawn attack.
An automatic rifle and a 9mm caliber weapon were used. Police said tests showed the 9mm weapon matched one used in an April 2007 attack on a police station in an Athens suburb. That attack caused no injuries but was claimed by the far-left Revolutionary Struggle Group.
The group had also claimed an attack in which a rocket-propelled grenade was fired into the front of the US Embassy in January 2007, causing damage but no injuries.
In yesterday's attack, gunmen sprayed riot police with automatic fire in an escalation of violence that erupted last month when a teenager was killed in a police shooting.
The teenager's death on December 6 sparked Greece's worst riots in decades, with masked protesters frequently attacking police by throwing gasoline bombs and rocks.
Yesterday's attack targeted a police unit guarding the Culture Ministry in downtown Athens, a police spokesman said.
It was the second such attack against police.
On December 23, gunmen fired two automatic rifles at a riot police bus passing a university campus outside the city center, but none of the 20 or so officers on board was injured.
Anti-terrorist police are investigating both shootings.
The wounded policeman, 21-year-old Diamandis Matzounis, was in a critical but stable condition after six hours of surgery, Health Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos said. He suffered two bullet wounds, one to the thigh and the other near the shoulder, hitting several vital organs, the hospital said.
Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos described the attack as an attempt to undermine democracy.
"Those who attacked Diamandis Matzounis targeted democracy and order," Pavlopoulos said after visiting the wounded man. "They will soon realize that democracy is strong and our society is safeguarded," he said, adding that "no bullet and no murderer" could undermine the police force's morale and sense of duty.
A police official said two men, one with a Kalashnikov-type automatic rifle, had sprayed bullets at the police unit in Exarchia - a downtown area of bars and restaurants that is considered an area favored by radicals.
"They wanted to kill someone in uniform. They sprayed our colleagues with gunfire," said Stratos Mavroidakos, head of a police officers' association.
"People were instigated into taking this action by the prevailing climate," he said, referring to the near daily violent demonstrations.
A policeman was critically wounded in yesterday's pre-dawn attack.
An automatic rifle and a 9mm caliber weapon were used. Police said tests showed the 9mm weapon matched one used in an April 2007 attack on a police station in an Athens suburb. That attack caused no injuries but was claimed by the far-left Revolutionary Struggle Group.
The group had also claimed an attack in which a rocket-propelled grenade was fired into the front of the US Embassy in January 2007, causing damage but no injuries.
In yesterday's attack, gunmen sprayed riot police with automatic fire in an escalation of violence that erupted last month when a teenager was killed in a police shooting.
The teenager's death on December 6 sparked Greece's worst riots in decades, with masked protesters frequently attacking police by throwing gasoline bombs and rocks.
Yesterday's attack targeted a police unit guarding the Culture Ministry in downtown Athens, a police spokesman said.
It was the second such attack against police.
On December 23, gunmen fired two automatic rifles at a riot police bus passing a university campus outside the city center, but none of the 20 or so officers on board was injured.
Anti-terrorist police are investigating both shootings.
The wounded policeman, 21-year-old Diamandis Matzounis, was in a critical but stable condition after six hours of surgery, Health Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos said. He suffered two bullet wounds, one to the thigh and the other near the shoulder, hitting several vital organs, the hospital said.
Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos described the attack as an attempt to undermine democracy.
"Those who attacked Diamandis Matzounis targeted democracy and order," Pavlopoulos said after visiting the wounded man. "They will soon realize that democracy is strong and our society is safeguarded," he said, adding that "no bullet and no murderer" could undermine the police force's morale and sense of duty.
A police official said two men, one with a Kalashnikov-type automatic rifle, had sprayed bullets at the police unit in Exarchia - a downtown area of bars and restaurants that is considered an area favored by radicals.
"They wanted to kill someone in uniform. They sprayed our colleagues with gunfire," said Stratos Mavroidakos, head of a police officers' association.
"People were instigated into taking this action by the prevailing climate," he said, referring to the near daily violent demonstrations.
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