Greek police intercept 8 parcel bombs headed to EU institutions & companies
Greek police have reported that they found and neutralized eight suspected parcel bombs at a postal sorting center in Athens on Monday. Last week, two such bombs targeted the German finance ministry and the IMF.
“Eight suspected packages which listed persons in European countries as recipients were located and confiscated today,” police said in a text message to the media.
While police did not disclose the names of the parcels’ intended recipients, they did note that they had been falsely labeled as having been sent from academic institutions. A Reuters security source said they had been “addressed to officials at economic institutions and companies” in various European countries.
Last week, a parcel bomb sent to the International Monetary Fund in Paris slipped through screening and exploded, injuring an administrative assistant. Another was intercepted by German authorities on Wednesday before it could reach German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.
A Greek urban guerrilla group dubbed Conspiracy of Fire Cells claimed responsibility for the parcel intended for the German finance minister, but not the one sent to the IMF, which exploded. The group is suspected of committing more than 150 criminal acts, including arsons and bombings. In 2011, six members of the group were sentenced to between 11 and 37 years in prison.
