Emergency.Blog

Incident in Athens Now Being Called "Terrorist Attack"

00:35 CST - 12 Jan 2007

Incident in Athens Now Being Called "Terrorist Attack"

From the ERRI/EmergencyNet News Global Watchdesk

ATHENS, GREECE: Attackers have reportedly fired a rocket at the U.S. embassy in Athens on Friday, but no one was hurt, police and the U.S. embassy said. Police are now calling this incident an "act of terrorism."

"This was a rocket attack launched from a building across the street. It landed inside a toilet on the third floor of the embassy," a senior police official told the Reuters news service. "There are no injuries from the blast," a U.S. embassy spokesman said.

"This is an act of terrorism. We don't know where from. There was a shell that exploded in the toilets of the building ... it was fired from street level," Attica Police chief Asimakis Golfis told the Associated Press

Another senior police official told Reuters: "This was a rocket attack launched from a building across the street. It landed inside a toilet on the third floor of the embassy."

"This is a very serious attack", U.S. Ambassador Charles Ries told reporters gathered outside the building.

The senior police official said Greece's deputy police chief and Athens police chief are on the scene, working directly with specialist officers of the national security and anti-terrorist squads. The identity of the perpetrators and any possible motive for the attack was not immediately clear. There has been no claim of responsibility for today's attack and there was no known warning message before the blast.

ERRI analysts did say that they were aware of a "Warden Message" that was issued on 09 January by the U.S. state department and warning of possible problems concerning demonstrations and "anarchists" in Athens. There is currently no link being drawn between the warden message and Friday's attack.

Watch EmergencyNet News for additional official details as they emerge...