Thursday 24 June 2010

Bomb attack on Athens police ministry


A BOMB disguised as a gift exploded inside Greece's law enforcement ministry on Thursday night, killing a senior ministerial aide in the country's highest profile attack in years.

The Daily Telegraph reports that Michalis Chryssohoidis, the cabinet minister in charge of the police force, escaped unhurt. He said the package had been intended for him.

"It was a wrapped package that exploded in the aide's hands after he apparently picked it up and tried to open it," said Thanassis Kokkalakis, a police spokesman. "We heard a big bang, there was a lot of smoke and damage".

The government was quick to condemn the attack as the work of 'terrorists', but questions are being asked as to how the package could have got through the heavy ring of security around the offices.

The bomb also did not follow the pattern of previous insurgent attacks as there was no warning phone call.

Said the Telegraph: "Although militants often carry out bombings, the vast majority involve small devices planted outside banks, foreign companies or car dealerships late at night and do not cause any injuries. "