Home / Daily news channel / News | Saturday 11 February 2012 |
Bomb planted in trash bin near Parliament |
It was just another Saturday afternoon at the Eleftherotypia newspaper office until they received a call claiming a bomb that was placed at an open area, outside the parliament building in central Athens. The newspaper company alerted the police as soon as possible.
.The police came to the location immediately after the call and shut down part of the boulevards in front of parliament and on the eastern side of the building. An explosive device detonated inside an installation for garbage disposal, as soon as people were evacuated. The explosion occurred outside Greece’s parliament building in central Athens.
Officials had to carry out a combing search on the entire area. Due to the prompt actions of the police authorities, no one was injured. Police predict that the bomb was plotted near the structure because the building front is a major tourist attraction because of the Greece’s tomb of the Unknown Soldier is there. The terrorist obviously wanted to take down as many people as he could but failed.
The attack is likely to be the work of one of a number of domestic militant groups, spawned after the riots of December 2008.
Their anti-establishment campaign has recently changed direction to retaliate against the socialist government's austerity measures, aimed at resolving Greece's economic crisis.
Though the attack may have caused little physical damage, it will trouble international financial experts monitoring Greece.
Ratings agencies have warned they will downgrade the country's credit-worthiness again if there is social unrest or if the government fails to persuade the country to accept a programme of cuts.
The bombers' message could not have been clearer - especially as parliament was sitting at the time - they were saying they could strike with impunity against one of the most heavily guarded buildings in the country.
